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LIFE AND RESOURCES 



IN 



VMERICA. 



PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION 



ARINORI MORI 
1 1 



For circulation in Japan. 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 
1871. 



r 
P / 



,tyMa 



APR 1 1919 

WASi, ^TGti, - D. C. 



Introduction, 

Official and Political Life, 
Life among the Farmers and Planters, 
Commercial Life and Developments, 
Life among the Mechanics, 
Religious Life and Institutions, 
Life in the Factories, - 
Educational Life and Institutions, - 
Literary, Artistic, and Scientific Life, 
Life among the Miners, - 
Life in the Army and Navy, - 
Life in the Leading Cities, 
Frontier Life and Developments, 
Judicial Life, - 

Additional Notes, - 



9 
15 

45 
93 
125 
147 
203 
237 
2G9 
305 
327 
347 



377 



389 
401 



PART FIRST. 



A PRELIMINARY NOTE 



The knowledge furnished by all the bet- 
ter qualified minds of the "world, is a pow- 
erful element, rendering great service in 
the cause of humanity. It is often the 
case that enmity and bloodshed, are the 
consequence of storing up prejudices, re- 
sulting from the want of mutual knowledge 
of the parties engaged. The object of this 
publication, is not only to aid in removing 
those prejudices, but also to invite all the 
lovers of their race, in Japan, to join in 
the noble march of progress and human 
happiness. 

In view of the fact that many dates are 

mentioned in this volume, it has been found 

necessary, for the sake of convenience, to 

adopt the Western Calendar altogether, and 

it is hoped that this course will not lead to 

any embarrassment in the mind of the 

reader. 

Arinori Mori. 

Washington City, U.S., September, 1871. 

Or, according to the Japanese Calendar, the 

Seventh month of the Fourth year of Meidi. 



INTRODUCTION. 



By the term America which appears on 
the title page of this book, we mean the 
United States of America^ As we are 
writing for the information of a class of 
readers who have never visited this coun- 
try, we propose to speak in as simple 
and concise a manner as possible. What- 
ever statements of fact, we may make, 
shall be founded upon the public and other 
authentic records \ and in submitting any 
general observations, we shall endeavor to 
steer a middle course, and give only such 
opinions as are held in common by the 
people of the country. Before proceeding 
to the main object of this volume, however, 
we think it necessary to take a brief survey 
of the area and population of the United 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

States, as follows. The total area of the 
Republic, which extends from the Atlantic 
Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, and excepting 
Alaska, lies wholly in the temperate zone, is 
about three million, eight hundred and thir- 
ty thousand square miles, an extent of sur- 
face larger than the whole of Europe; it has 
a coast line, including shores of bays, sounds 
and lakes, of 30,000 miles, of which 2,800 
are on the Atlantic, 1,800 on the Pacific, 
and 2,000 on the gulf of Mexico; it is 
traversed from North to South by two great 
ranges of mountains called the Alleghany 
and Rocky mountains; its rivers are numer- 
ous, and among the largest in the world ; 
its lakes contain more than one half of the 
fresh water on the globe; and its population, 
according to the census of 1870, is not 
far from thirty-nine millions, which is a 
considerable advance upon the population 
hitherto claimed for the empire of Japan. 
In the last 70 years, the increase has been 
about 33,000,000. Of these inhabitants it 
has been estimated that more than two- 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

fifths of them are immigrants, or the 
descendants of immigrants from foreign 
countries. Great Britain and Ireland have 
contributed most largely to this immigra- 
tion, and the other countries which have 
helped to swell the population, are as follows, 
and we mention them in the order of their 
contribution, viz : Germany, France, Prussia, 
China, West Indies, Switzerland, Norway 
and Sweden, Holland, Mexico, Spain, Italy, 
Belgium, South- America, Denmark, Azores, 
Portugal, Sardinia, Poland and Russia, 
whose contribution was less than two thou- 
sand. Of this great mass of immigrants 
it has been ascertained that a very large 
proportion, have changed their circumstan- 
ces for the better. With regard to the 
Black race, who, prior to the year 1860, 
were in a state of bondage, but are now 
free, they number nearly four millions and 
nine hundred thousand; the half civilized 
Indian tribes, about twenty-six thousand, 
and the wild Indians have been estimated 
at three hundred thousand. In 1870 there 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

were of Chinese 63,254, with whom were 
included 53 Japanese, but since then the 
latter have reached about 250 in number.* 
The public lands of the United States are 
so abundant, that every man who settles 
in the country, can afford, with careful 
management, to have a small farm for 
his exclusive benefit, as the price of land 
is generally so reasonable that it scarce- 
ly exceeds, and seldom equals, the rent 
payable in England. There is no descrip- 
tion of produce, European or Tropical, 
which may not be raised in the United 
States, and aside from its many other 
advantages, there is no other country 
which offers so many inducements to peo- 
ple in search of permanent and comfortable 
homes; and it is the present condition, 
of the people who enjoy this inheritance, 
with their manners and customs, that we 
propose to describe, in the following pages 
of this volume. 



* It must not be understood that all these foreigners 
have been naturalized. 



INTRODUCTION. 1 3 

But, before concluding this introduction, 
it is important that two subjects should be 
mentioned for the special consideration of 
the Japanese people. While we entertain 
an exalted opinion of what is called a Re- 
publican form of Government, we confess 
that it is not without its disadvantages and 
dangers. For any foreign nation fully to 
understand them, must require time, and 
much careful study. The Japanese people 
have been somewhat fascinated by what 
they have seen of the American government 
and institutions, and it is of the utmost im- 
portance, that they should well consider 
the subject in all its bearings, before adopt- 
ing any of its features into their own form 
of government. The evils resulting from 
the misuse of freedom in America, are 
among the most difficult to correct or re- 
form, and ought to be carefully avoided. 
Another fact that should not be forgotten 
has reference to the educational qualifica- 
tions necessary to secure success in a Re- 
publican form of Government. It is un- 



1 4 INTRODUCTION. 

doubtedlv true that the best thinkers in 
America deplore the fact that the machina- 
tions of the politicians, have resulted in 
placing the United States in an unfortunate 
condition in this respect. It has been so 
profitable with designing and selfish men, 
to increase the number of voters, that they 
have secured the passage of laws which 
allow all men to vote in view of the single 
idea of personal freedom. This is undoubt- 
edly all wrong, and the evil effects of this 
state of things are being manifested every 
day. A prosperous, happy, and permanent 
Republican government can only be secured, 
when the people who live under it are vir- 
tuous and well educated. 



OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE 



As preliminary to this chapter, it would 
seem to be necessary that we should give 
an outline of the machinery of the Ameri- 
can Government. It is two-fold in its char- 
acter; first Federal, because it is made up 
of States, and second National, because it 
acts directly from the people. According 
to the Constitution, it is divided into three 
branches, viz : Executive, Legislative, and 
Judicial. The head of the Executive 
branch, or ruler of the Nation, is called 
the President, who is elected by the votes 
of the people for the term of four years, 
and is sometimes re-elected for an additional 
term of four years. He is also the Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the United States Navy 
and Army. The average cost of each elec- 



16 OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 

tion in money, has been estimated at two 
millions of dollars. His office is styled the 
Executive Mansion, and is identical with his 
official residence, the White House. He is 
obliged to be a native and citizen of the 
country, and thirty -five years of age, and 
his annual compensation is twenty-five thou- 
sand dollars. The second officer of the 
Government is called the Vice President, 
whose business is to preside over the Sen- 
ate. He is elected in the same manner as 
the President, and his salary is eight thou- 
sand dollars per annum. The Executive 
Departments of the Government are seven 
in number, viz : the Departments of State 
or Foreign Affairs, Treasury, Interior, Post 
Office, War, Navy, and of Justice. The 
heads of them are called Secretaries, and 
they form the Cabinet of the President. 
They each receive a salary of eight thou- 
sand dollars, and their jurisdiction, under 
the President, extends to all the subordinate 
officers of the Government, whether located 
in Washington or in the several States of 



OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 17 

the Union. The Judiciary of the country 
is vested in a Supreme Court, District 
Courts, and the Court of Claims ; the sala- 
ries of the Judges ranging from sixty-five 
hundred down to thirty-five hundred dol- 
lars per annum. The Legislative branch 
of the Government, consists of a Senate 
and House of Representatives, — the Sena- 
tors, numbering seventy-four, elected for 
six years, — and the Representatives, two 
hundred and forty-three, — elected for two 
years, and their compensation is five thou- 
sand dollars per annum. The number of 
States which form the Union is thirty-seven, 
with ten Territories or incipient States, and 
their form of government is precisely simi- 
lar to that of the nation at large ; the lead- 
ing officers of each State or Territory bear- 
ing the titles of Governor and Lieutenant 
Governor. To the above may be added the 
municipal form of government for cities and 
towns, where the local authority is allied to 
that generally recognized in Europe, where 
the chief officers consist of Mayors and Al- 



18 OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 

dermen and their subordinates, although 
bearing different names, in different coun- 
tries. With these particulars before him, 
the reader will be able to comprehend the 
following observations. Although the real 
and official residence of the President is 
in Washington, the fashionable season, so- 
called, begins and ends with the sittings of 
Congress, beginning in December and last- 
ing from three to six months. The position 
occupied by officials under the Constitution, 
gives them necessarily a certain rank, ac- 
cording to the importance and nature of the 
office, the length of time, and the age, re- 
quired by law, of the incumbent. The 
house in which the President resides is the 
property of the Government; and to a great 
extent, his household expenses are paid by 
public appropriations. The title by which 
he is addressed in conversation is that of 
Mr. President, and every citizen of the Re- 
public, no matter how humble his position, 
has a right to visit the Executive in per- 
son. During the winter he holds public 



OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 

receptions as often as once a week, and on 
the Fourth of July, which is a National 
Holiday, and the First of January, he re- 
ceives, as a special mark of respect, the Di- 
plomatic Corps and the officers of the Army 
and Navy in full uniform, himself always 
appearing without any uniform. He ac- 
cepts no invitations to dinners, and makes 
no calls or visits of ceremony ; but is at 
liberty to visit without ceremony at his 
pleasure. State dinners are given by him 
quite frequently, and persons invited com- 
mit a breach of etiquette when they decline 
invitations. The rules of social intercourse 
which govern the Cabinet Ministers, are 
similar to those recognized by the President. 
As their tenure of office is limited, the} r 
have, in spite of themselves, a very busy 
time during their whole term of service : 
spending their days in dealing out patron- 
age, and their nights in giving or attending 
parties. Their families take the lead in 
fashion, and all American citizens have an 
undisputed right to attend their receptions, 



"% OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 

and after that public manner, to be fashion- 
able ; and as exclusiveness in the President 
or his ministers would be considered un- 
democratic, and therefore would not be tol- 
erated, there is no end to the so-called en- 
joyments of life. If a minister is rich and 
liberal, he becomes, for the time being, the 
biggest man of the hour, in spite of his 
politics ; if poor, and dependent only upon 
his salary, the fact of his having to occupy 
a large house, and to entertain the people, 
invariably sends him into retirement a poor- 
er man than he was before. With the 
Judges of the Supreme Court, these matters 
are somewhat different. They are the only 
dignitaries who hold office for life, and they 
can afford to do as they please, and gener- 
ally please to lead the quiet lives of culti- 
vated gentlemen. They go into society 
when the spirit moves them, are not disin- 
clined to partake of good dinners with their 
friends, a Foreign Envoy, or a Cabinet Min- 
ister, and perhaps the greatest of their 
blessings is, that they are not compelled to 



OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 21 

curry favor with the multitude. The next 
layer of Washington society, to which we 
would allude, is made up of the Heads of 
Bureaus and the Officers of the Army and 
Navy, their pay ranging from ten to two 
thousand dollars per annum. They are the 
men who more immediately manage the 
machinery of the Government, and upon 
whom to a great extent depends the success 
of all the public measures enacted by Con- 
gress. Though generally well paid, many 
of them cannot afford to display much style 
although they live comfortably, and gener- 
ally, in their own houses, although many 
officials reside in boarding houses or hotels. 
The civil officers are but seldom appointed 
on their merits, but usually through politi- 
cal influence, and the party which happens 
to be in power, commonly claims all the 
patronage, and the most worthy and com- 
petent men, are often dismissed from office 
without a moment's warning. With the 
Military and Naval officers the case is some- 
what different, for though they may get 



22 OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 

into office through political influence, they 
are usually appointed for life, and are not 
removed without cause. After the above 
come the Clerks or employees of the Gov- 
ernment, which number several thousand in 
Washington alone. They are in reality the 
hardest working population of the Metrop- 
olis. Among them may be found men from 
every State in the Union, and from many 
foreign countries ; men of no particular 
mark, who have lost fortunes ; ripe scholars, 
who have been rudely bufletted by the 
world ; men of capacity, who can teach 
their superiors in office ; rare penmen and 
common-place accountants ; and a sister- 
hood, composed chiefly of respectable wid- 
ows and orphans who have fled to the Gov- 
ernment for support. The custom of em- 
ploying women as clerks originated out of 
the disasters which followed the late war, 
and the number now employed by the Gov- 
ernment has already reached several thou- 
sand, and they have been found, to be quite 
as useful as men clerks. Their compensa- 



OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 23 

tion ranges from nine hundred to twenty- 
five hundred dollars per annum, and while 
it is true that many receive more than they 
earn, because of their idle or inattentive 
habits, others find it difficult to secure a 
comfortable support. Occasionally, a man 
may be found who has grown gray in the 
public service and is an oracle, but the great 
majority are, in reality, a floating popula- 
tion. The comparative ease with which 
these Clerks earn their money, tends to 
make them improvident; many instances 
might be mentioned, however, where Clerks 
have left the Government service, and be- 
come distinguished as merchants or in some 
of the professions. For a totally different 
phase of Washington life, and the most in- 
fluential for evil or for good, we must turn 
to the brotherhood of Congressmen. Com- 
ing as they do from all parts of the country, 
and representing every variety of popula- 
tion, it is quite as impossible to speak of 
them collectively, as of their individual 
characteristics. Anions; them are to be 



24 OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 

found honest and able statesmen, but that 
a large proportion of them are mere time- 
serving politicians, is a fact that cannot be 
questioned. It is frequently the case that 
after a Congressman has ended his career 
as a legislator, he turns office-seeker, and 
many of them, without a knowledge of any 
language but their own are sent abroad as 
Diplomatic Ministers. Of these Congress- 
men, there have been not less than five 
thousand of them elected since the founda- 
tion of the Government; and the several 
political parties to which they have be- 
longed may be summed up as Federalists, 
Democrats, Whigs, Locofocos, Freesoilers, 
Abolitionists, Fire-eaters, Republicans, Cop- 
perheads, Native Americans, Secessionists 
and Radicals, forming in the aggregate a 
conglomeration of political ideas quite in 
keeping with the energetic and free spirit 
of the American people. Prior to the late 
civil war, colored men were not admitted 
to seats in Congress, but at the present 
time a few of them hold positions in both 



OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 25 

Houses of Congress, — there being now no 
distinction recognized on account of color, 
so far as political rights are concerned. 
With regard to the permanent population 
of Washington little can be said of special 
interest. Occupying, as this city does, a 
position on the River Potomac, at the head 
of navigation, about midway between the 
Atlantic Ocean and the Alleghany Moun- 
tains, it was calculated to become a place 
of commercial importance. But this idea 
was not realized, and it became a metropol- 
itan city, chiefly dependent for its support 
upon the General Government. The local 
trade is measured by the wants of the pop- 
ulation, and there is nothing exported ex- 
cepting a limited amount of flour, and a 
considerable quantity of bituminous coal. 
The only particular, perhaps, in which the 
inhabitants differ from those of other Amer- 
ican cities, is in their free and easy manners, 
growing out of their intercourse and famil- 
iarity with people from all quarters of the 
globe, drawn hither by business or pleasure. 



26 OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 

With them, the dignitaries of the land, as 
well as ambassadors from abroad, are ap- 
preciated at their real value ; and a man, 
who towers as a giant in the rural districts, 
is very sure to be measured accurately in 
the Metropolis. But the most peculiar fea- 
ture of Washington society at the present 
time (1871) is, the position to which the 
colored or Negro population has attained. 
Before the late civil war, these unhappy 
people were in a state of bondage, and only 
enough of them were congregated in the 
Metropolis to supply the demand for house- 
hold servants. While the war was pro- 
gressing, which resulted in their emancipa- 
tion, large numbers fled to this city, as to 
a place of refuge, and here, a large propor- 
tion of. them have continued to remain to 
the present time. They have been admit- 
ted to all the rights and privileges of citi- 
zenship ; but, while the more intelligent 
have profited by their advantages, large 
numbers of them are content to idle away 
their time, or depend upon the authorities 



OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 27 

for support, and they constitute about one- 
third of the present population. They have 
not as yet been sufficiently educated to be 
received in society on the same footing with 
the white race, and the repugnance to re- 
ceiving them at the same table, or to inter- 
marrying with them, is as strong as in other 
times, quite universal, and will probably so 
continue. 

In the further prosecution of our plan, 
we must direct attention to that large mass 
of the community engaged in carrying on 
the business of the nation in the diverse 
regions of the United States. We begin 
with the Postmasters, one of whom is loca- 
ted in every city, town and village through- 
out the land, and the aggregate number of 
whom is about twenty-six thousand, exclu- 
sive of their numerous assistants. Their 
duties are, to receive and deliver all letters 
sent to their several Offices, and to look af- 
ter the prompt dispatch of the mails, by 
ships and railroads, by coaches and wagons, 
and on horseback, and their compensation 



28 OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 

ranges from six thousand dollars to a few 
dollars per annum. They are all appointed 
directly by the President, and hold office 
during his pleasure. Next to these come 
the custom-house officers, who, including 
all grades, number not less than five thou- 
sand employees ; after these, comes another 
large body whose business is to collect the 
Internal Revenue of the country ; and also 
a very extensive force engaged in carrying 
on the interests connected with the Public 
Lands, the Indian Tribes, and the Judicial 
business in the various States and Territo- 
ries, as well as those interests prosecuted 
under the authority of the Patent Office, 
the Pension Office and the Agricultural 
Department. Now, as the people here men- 
tioned, numbering in the gross not far from 
sixty thousand persons, obtain their posi- 
tions through political influence, it is natural 
that they should take a special interest in 
politics, and do their utmost for the success j 
of the particular party to which they belong.; 
Hence the great excitement which invaria- 



OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 29 

bl}^ prevails at all the elections. As before 
intimated the President and Vice President 
are voted for once in every four years ; and 
the Representatives in Congress once in 
two years ; — the Senators being chosen by 
the State Legislatures. It would appear 
therefore that as the people are intelligent 
and honest, so must be the office-holders ; 
but this is not always the case, because of 
t*he existence of w T hat are called mere poli- 
ticians or demagogues. This class of citi- 
zens has greatly multiplied of late years, 
and it is safe to say that nearly all the 
troubles which befall the country are the 
result of their petty schemes and selfish 
intrigues. There is not a village in the 
land where they do not congregate or pur- 
sue in secret their unpatriotic designs. Of 
course there are many exceptions to this 
state of things, but the rule is as we have 
stated it : and the evils resulting from the 
power thus obtained and prostituted, have 
come to be universally recognized and de- 
plored by the honest people of the land. 



30 OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 

The loss of dignity, and the decline in pub- 
lic morals on account of politics is, to-day, 
a source of mortification and alarm among 
the virtuous and patriotic citizens of the 
country. The philosophy of Government, 
is a subject to which the people of America 
have devoted but little attention, and very 
few books have been published on the sub- 
ject, and yet it is claimed that they are in 
advance of all other nations, in the practice 
of self-government. To what extent this is 
true, the present writer is not called upon 
to decide. It is too true, however, that 
the opinion is frequently expressed by for- 
eigners that the unbridled system of a Re- 
publican government leads to many political 
troubles. The two or three crowning fea- 
tures of the American Government would 
seem to be as follows : That the nation is a 
peculiar organism, having a life and destiny 
of its own, founded on the idea of humanity, 
and like the individual person, but in a 
more continuous degree ; that its authority 
to govern the people, is derived from their 



OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 31 

actual or implied assent; and that in assert- 
ing its prerogatives, it looks to the least 
possible interference with the free action 
! of the individuals composing the community. 
This form of government involves the idea 
of contract, tacit or expressed, and no mat- 
ter how it may be carried out, must rest 
upon the understanding of the people, not 
only as to the end to be pursued, but also 
as to the methods. As one circle within 
another, so does the government of each 
State and Territory revolve within the cir- 
cle of the Union, and the State, county and 
town elections, for offices which are subject 
to State patronage, are precisely similar in 
character and results to the National elec- 
tions. While deprecating the abuses to 
which the American people are subject, on 
account of what is called universal suffrage, 
there are many social features which are to 
be highly commended, and are peculiar to 
the country ; among these is the absence of 
pauperism, and the universal respectability 
in personal appearance among all classes. 



32 OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 

This fact is apparent to all observers, and 
has been fully conceded by the best Eng- 
lish writers on this country. There is no 
beggary here except such as arises from 
profligacy or causes beyond the control of 
human nature. Another peculiar feature 
of American life is, the equal distribution 
of wealth, acknowledged as remarkably 
characteristic of the nation. In all the 
large cities and occasionally in the country, 
may be found a man possessing enormous 
wealth, but among the millions of our pop- 
ulation wealth is diffused, and there is a 
wonderful equality in the material condition 
of the population. Another phase of Amer- 
ican life, to which we have already alluded, 
and which has astonished the Governments 
of the Old World, is, the doctrine of Univer- 
sal Suffrage. It is this which lies at the 
basis of all her institutions, and it is this. 
more than anything else, taken in connec- 
tion with the super-abundant resources of 
the country, that tends to an equal distri- 
bution of wealth. It is not, as a noted 



OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 33 

English Statesman has said, so much a 
man's wealth, which the American, people 
recognize, and to which they pay homage, 
as the energy and ability which may turn 
wealth to account. In theory, as well as 
in reality, they regard equality and broth- 
erhood as of the Essence of the Constitution 
under which they live, and of their social 
well-being and existence. As the official 
and political classes heretofore touched 
upon are either the law-makers of the land, 
or engaged in carrying out the laws, it may 
be well enough to notice their rights and 
privileges under those laws. While it is 
true that members of Congress, and some 
few dignitaries besides, are exempt from 
arrest for civil misdemeanors, when engaged 
in their public duties, all persons of every 
position are amenable to the criminal laws. 
A leading dignitary, when he violates the 
law, is as promptly brought to trial, as the 
humblest man in the community, but the 
misfortune is, that the influence possessed 
by the former is too apt to keep him from 



34 OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 

deserved punishment, while the latter is 
compelled to meet a less happy fate. The 
titles which accompany the possession of 
office, are of no special value, and, except 
in the Army and Navy, terminate with the 
office. At the same time it must not be 
supposed that the Americans are without 
the sentiments which grow out of associa- 
tion with old and honored families. In 
some parts of the country there is a very 
decided feeling of aristocracy, but it is pecu- 
liar to the regions w T hich have been the 
longest settled. The privilege of receiving 
and sending letters free of postage, and 
without limit, is enjoyed only by the Pres- 
ident, his Cabinet, the heads of Bureaus 
and Congressmen ; under certain official re- 
strictions, the postmasters may frank their 
letters, but beyond that, all men in office 
have to pay postage like ordinary people. 
When a young man has determined to lead 
a political life, his first desire is, to be elec- 
ted to the State Legislature, then to become 
Governor of the State, and from that posi- 



OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 35 

tion he thinks himself entitled to go into 
the United States Senate, bat there is no 
uniformity in these promotions. Generally 
speaking, the career of public men in this 
country, is measured more by their cunning 
or success in managing the people who have 
votes, rather than by their abilities. Nor 
does their political success depend upon 
their antecedents — upon wealth or family 
position. Ten years before he became 
President, Ulysses S. Grant was a leather 
merchant; it was the boast of Andrew 
Johnson, the late President, that he had 
been bred a tailor ; and of Abraham Lin- 
coln, that he had earned his living in early 
life as a common chopper of wood, or rail- 
splitter. The present Minister to England 
w T as once a tutor in an academy ; and the 
Ministers to France and Spain were both 
printers ; but at the same time it does occa- 
sionally happen in these latter days, as it fre- 
quently did in former times, that the diplo- 
matic representatives abroad have attained 
high positions notwithstanding the fact that 



36 OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 

they have been men of culture and quiet 
scholarship, as in the case of Motley and 
Bancroft the historians, and Marsh the dis- 
tinguished scholar and author. The pres- 
ent Secretary of the Treasury, was, for 
many years, a merchant's clerk ; and among 
the Senators and Representatives, are men 
who once sold dry goods for a living, or 
were engaged in various mechanical employ- 
ments, but who are not on those accounts, 
less esteemed than they would otherwise 
have been. But when a notorious gambler 
or profligate is elected to Congress, as has 
sometimes been the case, it must not be 
supposed that the American people are in- 
different to his antecedents. The most 
striking fact, perhaps, which can be men- 
tioned by way of illustrating the wonderful 
elasticity of the American Government is 
this, that among the Representatives now 
sitting in Congress and engaged in mould- 
ing the laws, are several persons, members 
of the Negro race, who were once slaves, 
employed upon plantations, both of which 



OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 37 

could alike, at one time, have been sold for 
a specific sum of money. Although there 
are many instances among the State Gov- 
ernors, where men have risen to eminence 
from obscurity, the people have generally 
been more careful in selecting their State 
executives, than in selecting their Congress- 
men ; and what we have said in regard to 
the changes effected by politics in the case 
of prominent officials, is equally true, in a 
less degree, of all the subordinate office- 
holders. And now the question arises, how 
about the servants of the public after they 
have been superseded in their official posi- 
tion ? It cannot be said that any of the 
Presidents have ever gone into any unbe- 
coming employment after leaving the Exec- 
utive Chair; but it is not uncommon for 
Ex-Congressmen and other ex-officials of 
the so-called higher grades, to go into all 
sorts of inappropriate employments, from a 
Government Clerkship to a Claim agency. 
The only one of the Presidents who con- 
sented to enter Congress after leaving the 



38 OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 

Executive Chair was John Quincy Adams, 
but his character stood so high as a man and 
a statesman, he could afford to do as he 
pleased, and to die, as he did, in the har- 
ness of public life. As before stated, the 
total number of men, who have served the 
country as law-makers, is about five thou- 
sand ; of these, the legal profession has 
sent the largest proportion ; the men of let- 
ters have numbered only one in every fifty : 
the eloquent speakers or orators of special 
note, have not been more than two hundred; 
less than one-half graduated at learned in- 
stitutions: while the balance have been 
farmers and planters, merchants, and mem- 
bers of various professions. The total num- 
ber of men who have held Cabinet appoint- 
ments is one hundred and eighty-two, of 
whom one hundred and thirty-three have 
been Congressmen : of the forty-four Su- 
preme Court Judges, one half of them served 
in the Senate or House of Representatives : 
out of five hundred and twenty-seven for- 
eign Ministers, one hundred and seventy 



OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 39 

were members of Congress ; and of the 
seven hundred and sixty-eight State and 
Territorial Governors, three hundred and 
forty-nine were Congressmen. The Treaty 
which has recently been made between the 
American and English Governments, con- 
summates a long-wished for condition of 
affairs, viz : a cordial good-will with all the 
great Powers of Europe — Great Britain, 
France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Spain. 
It is claimed, indeed, by the best thinkers, 
that the American Government was never 
more powerful and influential for good than 
it is at the present time. Intercourse and 
trade between the two continents, over 
the Pacific Ocean, are growing rapidly. 
The friendship of Japan for the United 
States, and its thorough reciprocation on 
their part, are universally acknowledged. 
The latter seem to watch attentively the 
movements of England and other European 
Powers in the far East. And while the 
British Government may deem it wise to 
use force in its dealings with the Eastern 



40 OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 

nations, the American policy appears to 
adhere resolutely to the principles of peace, 
justice, and equal rights to all, notwith- 
standing the late unwarrantable operations 
of the American Navy on the coast of Corea. 
The changes for good that have taken place 
in Japan during the last few years, are a 
matter of wonder and satisfaction to the 
whole civilized world. The American peo- 
ple have been, since the memorable visit 
of Commodore Perry, taking great and spe- 
cial inter est[in the affairs of Japan. The 
President of the United States has justly 
echoed the prevailing sentiment among the 
Americans, when he said to the Prince 
Fushimi, member of one of the Imperial 
families of the Micado, that he had seen 
with pride, the young men of Japan com- 
ing over to receive their education, and 
that he would take the greatest pleasure in 
contriving to make their residence in this 
country, both agreeable and useful to them. 
There rests upon Japan a great hope, as 
well as high responsibility, for the success 



OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 41 

of bringing about a healthy and exemplary 
civilization, which must take the lead among 
all the Asiatic nations. 

P. S. In view of the changes which are 
constantly taking place among the officials 
of the American Government, to which al- 
lusion has been made in the foregoing pages, 
the writer must express an opinion. They 
are, beyond all question, a great disadvan- 
tage to the Republic. They naturally in- 
terfere with the proper and regular working 
of the machinery of the Government, and 
are the primary cause of the bitter political 
dissensions, which have long prevailed, and 
continue to prevail, among the American 
people. And what is more, they lead to all 
kinds of corruption ; and at the very time 
of our writing these lines, the people of 
New York are greatly convulsed over the 
discovery that the Treasury of the City and 
State has been robbed to the extent of 
many millions of dollars, growing directly 
out of the evils of office seeking, and rota- 



42 OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 

tion in office from party considerations. 
On the other hand, it must be confessed 
that where the people have it in their power, 
as in America, to regulate the conduct of 
the men they elect to office, so long as they 
are truly honest, they can always prevent 
a long continuance of the evils brought 
upon them by unscrupulous demagogues. 
Hence the great importance of their being 
both virtuous and truly patriotic. 






PART SECOND. 



LIFE AMONG THE FARMERS AND 
PLANTERS. 



In the present paper, we propose to give 
a comprehensive account of the Agricultural 
population of the United States, and shall 
speak of Farm Life in New England, (the 
Eastern,) the Middle, and Western States ; 
and of Plantation Life in the Southern 
States. It is now generally acknowledged 
that the prosperity of America depends 
chiefly upon its Agriculture, and that it has 
come to be considered the granary of Eu- 
rope. The area of land susceptible of cul- 
tivation has been estimated to be about 
two thousand, two hundred and fifty mil- 
lions (2,250,000,000) of acres, more than 
half of which is owned by the Government, 



46 LIFE AMONG FAEMERS AND PLANTERS. 

five hundred millions (500,000,000) having 
been surveyed and is now ready for occu- 
pation ; while the lands under cultivation 
amount to more than two hundred millions 
(200,000,000) of acres. It has also been 
estimated that seven-eighths of the entire 
population of the country are engaged in 
agricultural pursuits, or in the various pro- 
fessions and trades naturally dependent 
thereupon. The largest wheat crop ever 
produced in the States, was in 1869 when 
the yield amounted to two hundred and 
sixty-four millions (264,000,000) of bush- 
els, and as the average price was one dollar 
and forty cents ($1.40) the total cash value 
was not less than $369,600,000. The 
quantity of corn was 1,100,000,000 bush- 
els ; Rye 22,000,000; Barley 28,000,000 ; 
Buckwheat 17,000,000 ; Oats 275,000,000, 
and Potatoes 111,000,000; Hay 22,000,- 
000 tons ; Tobacco 310,000,000 pounds ; 
Cane Sugar 120,000,000 pounds and Cot- 
ton 1,767,000,000 pounds, valued at $147,- 
380,000. And as to domestic animals, in- 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 47 

eluding young cattle, horses, sheep and 
swine, their value was $978,872,785. 

With these few leading facts before him, 
the reader may obtain an approximate idea 
of the agricultural wealth of the country : 
and he must remember, that the very 
numerous unmentioned articles would swell 
the agricultural supplies to the extent of 
many additional millions. It is claimed 
by English farmers, that in some particu- 
lars, their method of farming is superior to 
that practised in this country, and that is 
undoubtedly true, but on the other hand it 
has been demonstrated, that the leading 
grains can be produced at a much lower cost 
in the United States than in England. As 
this is pre-eminently an agricultural coun- 
try, it follows that here the most numerous 
attempts to produce labor-saving implements 
have been directed to facilitate the labors 
of the farm. The extent to which new 
agricultural inventions have been patented, 
is so great, that in 1869, they reached the 
number of nineteen hundred (1900) and all 



48 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

of them for saving muscular power on the 
farm, and in the household. A particular 
account of them is as follows : Churns and 
churning, 130 ; Corn-shellers and huskers, 
40; Cultivators, 1 50 ; Diggers and spaders, 
30 ; Fertilizers, 6 ; Forks (hay, manure, 
&c.,) 100 ; Harrows, drays and pulverizers, 
80; Harvesters and attachments, 195; 
Hay-spreaders, 25 ; Hoes, 25 ; Mowing 
and reaping machines, 30; Planters, 150 ; 
Plows and attachments, 255 ; Pruning, 15 ; 
Rakes, 90; Seeding and sowing, 80 ; Sep- 
arators and smut-machines, 50 ; Straw, hay 
and fodder-cutters, 30; Threshing-machines, 
35; and Yokes, 15. In the more settled parts 
of the country, the old-fashioned varieties 
of the hoe, the spade, and even the plough- 
share, are now looked upon as barbarous 
contrivances, and in their place the farmers 
use what are called Steam ploughs, the 
Rotary Spade, the Sulky plough, Horse 
Cultivators, Shovel-ploughs, as well as 
Reaping, Mowing and Threshing machines 
of many varieties. The improvements that 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 49 

have been made in such tools as the shovel, 
spade, hoe and forks, are so great that they 
may almost be considered entirely new in- 
ventions. With regard to these and many 
other implements of husbandry in America, 
lightness, simplicity and comparative cheap- 
ness are absolutely essential to their per- 
fection. One of the effects, if not the most 
important, of these labor-saving machines 
has been, that, while one man has been 
kept in the field, three have been sent to 
the great towns to prosecute other enter- 
prises of profit, or have entered upon the 
cultivation of other farms. The organiza- 
tion of Agricultural Societies, which have 
done much to perfect the science of tilling 
the soil, was commenced shortly after the 
establishment of the Government in 1775, 
and their influence, in connection with an- 
nual fairs, has been wide-spread, and of the 
greatest advantage. There is not a State 
in the Union, which does not boast of one 
of them, organized for the benefit of all the 
inhabitants at lar^e. Nor ought the fact 



50 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

to be forgotten, that there are already many 
Agricultural Colleges in the country, and 
that they are annually increasing in num- 
bers and influence. And then again, the 
agricultural periodicals are numerous and 
of high repute. 

But notwithstanding all these facts, ex- 
perienced men have expressed the opinion, 
that the condition of Agriculture in this 
country is not what might be desired. The 
great trouble is, the want of proper method. 
The art is as yet imperfectly known and 
practised, and the American system is full 
of deficiencies. The domain of the United 
States, embraces soil capable of yielding 
the richest and most varied productions, in 
the greatest abundance ; and it is a pecu- 
liar feature of the country, that all the lands 
which have been sold by the Government, 
or are still owned by the same, are surveyed 
upon a system of squares and divided into 
townships of six miles square, sub-divided 
into sections and quarter sections, whereby 
the farms are generally regular in shape, 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 51 

and disputes are avoided in regard to boun- 
dary lines. The lands belonging to the 
Government are sold at the uniform price 
of one dollar and a quarter ($1.25) per acre, 
so that for one hundred dollars, a new set- 
ler can receive a farm of eighty acres; but 
under existing laws, a foreigner, if of age, 
and intending to become a citizen, obtains 
a homestead substantially as a free gift. 
The total quantity of land owned by the 
Government was 1,834,968,400 acres ; of 
which 447,266,190 acres have been sold ; 
and the amount now for sale is 1,387,732,- 
209 acres. That the National Government 
takes a deep interest in the welfare of the 
Agricultural population is proven by the 
fact, that a Department of Agriculture exists 
in Washington, which annually publishes a 
very valuable volume of miscellaneous in- 
formation, and supplies seeds and cuttings 
for all who may apply for them, while the 
Postal laws of the country allow their trans- 
portation through the mails free of expense ; 
the same laws making only a small charge 



52 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

for the exchange of seeds, cuttings and 
plants between private parties ; but more 
than all that, the National Government has 
recently made a grant of seven millions 
(7,000,000) of acres of land for the benefit 
of Agricultural Colleges, and propositions 
are now pending for giving away nearly 
twenty million (20,000,000) acres of land 
for objects directly or indirectly connected 
with the farming population of the Repub- 
lic. The total number of farms in the Uni- 
ted States is about three millions, which 
gives a farm for every thirteen of the en- 
tire population ; and the largest proportion 
of these farms range from twenty to one 
hundred acres. 

And now we propose to give a descrip- 
tion in general terms of Farm Life in the 
New England States, (the six Eastern 
States.) viz : Maine, Massachusetts, New 
Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut and 
Rhode Island. In this region the farms 
are almost universally small, ranging from 
ten to one hundred acres, and stone fences 






LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 53 

predominate above all other kinds. The 
Agricultural season is short, winter lasting 
through half the year. No verdure but 
that of evergreens resists the annual cold, 
and an unmelted mass of snow covers the 
ground for months. The soils, excepting 
in the more extensive valleys are poor and 
rocky, and aside from those farms which 
are given up chiefly to the grazing of cattle 
or the production of hay, the products of 
the earth are only obtained by the severest 
kind of labor. Along the sea shore, kelp 
and fish are popular manures, but in the in- 
terior, guano, calcareous manures, and the 
yield of the barn yards are employed. The 
owner is, himself, the foremost workman, 
and his sons, his principal assistants : and 
all household matters are performed by the 
females of the family. The farmers live in 
comfortable frame houses, very frequently 
surrounded with flowers, use both coal and 
wood for fuel, and are noted for their fru- 
gality and neatness. Their barns are spa- 
cious and substantial. They produce noth- 



54 LIFE AMONG FAEMEES AND PLANTERS. 

ing for exportation, but a greater variety 
of crops than the more extensive farmers, 
and are quite content if they can obtain a 
plain, comfortable support. In Vermont, 
the raising of superior breeds of horses has 
been a specialty, but for farm work, oxen 
are more popular than horses. If the far- 
mers happen to have a small surplus of any 
commodity, they dispose of it in a neigh- 
boring town ; and thus provide themselves 
with luxuries, or put aside a little money 
for a rainy day. In some localities Agri- 
culture is often joined to other employments 
such as fishing and shoemaking. The far- 
mers in New England, as well as through- 
out the country, are generally a reading 
people, and profit somewhat by the published 
theories on the science of Agriculture. 
Their children have access to the country 
schools, but the sons are often obliged to 
help their parents in the field during the 
vernal months, so that their principal time 
for study is in the winter. They are a 
church-going people, and to the extent of 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 55 

their means, liberal in furthering the cause 
to which they may be attached. They take 
an interest in politics, and are decided in 
their opinions. They are social in their 
dispositions, fond of visiting their friends, 
and on winter evenings, have what they call 
apple-paring, and bed-quilting frolics, when 
their homes are cheered by such refresh- 
ments as mince and pumpkin pies, as well 
as cider, walnuts and apples. Their amuse- 
ments are as various as their tastes, but the 
perpetual struggle with mother earth, for 
the means of living, makes them careful of 
their time, and is apt to induce and keep 
alive the most serious views of life. On 
farms lying in the vicinity of villages, it is 
often the case, that certain members of the 
family obtain positions in the factories or 
other manufacturing establishments, where- 
by they are enabled to increase their means 
of support. As soon as the boys attain the 
age of manhood, they find their fields of 
operation circumscribed, and leaving the 
paternal roof, wander forth into the world 



56 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

to make their own fortunes : — some of them 
to the turmoil and strife of the large cities, 
and others to the more inviting regions of 
the great, and not yet fully developed West. 
In New England, farm life is to-day, very 
much what it was a generation ago ; and 
from the very nature of the cold and bar- 
ren soil, will so continue without any marked 
progress. The farmers have done their 
best, in fact all that could be done ; every- 
thing is finished and they are contented. 
It is not that the spirit of competition has 
died out there. That the Agricultural in- 
terests of New England have reached and 
passed the period of culmination is undoubt- 
edly true. The farmers of this region are 
more truly the yeomanry of the land, than 
any other class, and a large proportion of 
them are natives of the soil they now culti- 
vate, and like the venerable oaks and elms, 
which adorn many of their farms, they are 
content to live in the present as in the past, 
hoping that any family offshoots that may 
have been planted in more congenial and 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 57 

productive soils will be, as they have been 
in unnumbered instances, a blessing to 
their clescendents. 

We now pass over into what are called 
the four Middle States of the Union, viz : 
New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and 
Delaware, where we shall find a somewhat 
different condition of affairs, but with the 
stamp of New England manners and cus- 
toms everywhere visible. There the aver- 
age size of farms is between one hundred 
and one hundred and fifty acres, and gener- 
ally speaking, the soil is productive. The 
fences are usually made of rails, and every 
variety of manure is employed. If not rich, 
the farmers are in easy circumstances, and 
count upon annually laying up something 
handsome in the way of profits. Though 
well posted in their business, by years of 
practical experience, they employ a needed 
supply of hands, who do most of the hard 
work, while their own time is occupied 
with the lighter duties of the farm and a 
general supervision of affairs. Their houses 



58 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

are comfortable and often elegant, and afford 
ample accommodation for the proprietor, his 
family and his assistants. While those of 
New York, where the native American ele- 
ment prevails, fare sumptuously on the food 
of their own raising, and have become cele- 
brated for their superior butter and cheese, 
the farmers of Dutch descent, located in 
Pennsylvania are charged with never eat- 
ing what might be readily sold at the near- 
est market. It is to the credit of these 
farmers, that their barns are unequalled in 
this country, oftentimes better than the 
houses they live in, and that with them, 
the profits of their style of farming are 
always satisfactory. With regard to the 
cheese business, it has come to be so ex- 
tensive, that we may allude to it more par- 
ticularly. The entire produce of last year 
was about one hundred millions of pounds, 
three-fourths of which was made in the 
Middle States, but the largest amount in 
New York. 

From time immemorial the Dutch have 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 59 

had control of this business, but the exports 
from this country are now about double of 
the exports from Holland. Formerly it was 
the custom of the farmers to make cheese 
upon their respective farms, but it is now 
made in regularly established factories, 
which are supported by the farmers located 
in their vicinity. The total number of these 
factories now flourishing in this country is 
thirteen hundred, and they are supplied 
with milk from not less than three hundred 
thousand cows. In New Jersey and Dela- 
ware and on Long Island, where the chief 
attention is devoted to fruits and vegetables 
and where are to be found the most beau- 
tiful gardens in the country, the hired hands 
are more numerous than elsewhere, in pro- 
portion to the size of the farms or gardens, 
but their positions are not so permanent. 
Various kinds of berries are here raised in 
the greatest abundance, and the surplus 
hands left unemployed after the annual 
gatherings have to seek other employment. 
In the great majority of cases, the pro- 



60 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

prietor joins his hired men in the work to 
be done, whether in casting the seed, driv- 
ing the machinery employed, or gathering 
in the harvests ; they all occupy the same 
platform as citizens, whether naturalized, or 
natives of the country ; free access to schools 
and churches is enjoyed by all without re- 
gard to family or fortune ; and the man who 
is working to-day as a hired hand, knows 
full well, that if he continues to be true to 
himself and his opportunities, he will yet be 
respected as a proprietor. By means of 
newspapers and books, they keep up with 
the spirit of the age ; and, though generally 
disinclined to participate in the partizan 
squabbles of the day, they are by no means 
indifferent to the welfare of the country, 
and are frequently called upon to fill offices 
of trust and honor. They rise early, eat 
a frugal meal at noon, and retire at the 
coming on of darkness, excepting in the 
winter, which is their time for visiting and 
home enjoyments, and this is true of the 
farming classes generally throughout the 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. (31 

country. What are called fancy-farmers 
are probably more numerous in the Middle 
States than in any other region, but these 
men are apt to spend more money than they 
make; and an idea of the wealth which 
some of them attain, may be gathered from 
the fact that there is one family in the val- 
ley of the Genessee in New York, who own 
not less than thirty thousand acres of land, 
and all of it in the highest state of cultiva- 
tion. It is this class of the more wealthy 
farmers residing in all the States, who great- 
ly benefit the country by introducing the 
best kinds of stock from foreign countries, 
who have been known to pay twenty thou- 
sand dollars for a single stallion (horse.) 
two or three thousand for a heifer, a ram, 
or a bull, or one hundred dollars for a trio 
of fowls, consisting of one male and two fe- 
males. It was one of these extensive far- 
mers who inaugurated the plan of issuing 
printed cards with the following regulations 
for the guidance of his men. " Regularity 
in hours. — Punctuality in cleaning and put- 



62 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

ting away implements. — Humanity to all 
the animals. — Neatness and cleanliness in 
personal appearance. — Decency in deport- 
ment and conversation. — Obedience to the 
proprietor, and ambition to excel in farm- 
ing." Extensive and various as are the 
farming interests of the Middle States, and 
so great are the temptations to go farther 
west, the demand for farm hands and female 
servants is always equal to the supply, and 
while the men receive from fifteen to thirty 
dollars per month with board, the women 
receive from eight to fifteen dollars per 
month for home work, and of these, by far 
the largest proportion are from England, 
Ireland and Germany. The secret of the 
unparalleled growth, and the daily increas- 
ing power of the United States, is, that the 
Government in its practical working, is con- 
fined to the narrowest limits, that it is the 
Agent, not the Master of the people, and 
that the latter initiate all changes in its 
political and social life. It is therefore the 
condition of the success of a settlement that 



LIFE AMONO FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 63 

the immigrant relies on his own strength, 
acts on his own responsibility, and seeks 
by his own efforts the prosperity which he 
is snre to find if undisturbed. In spite of 
obstacles and disappointments, he will make 
his way and ultimately attain his objects. 
In the States now under consideration, as 
well as in all the States of the Union, ex- 
cepting New York and a few others, a mar- 
ried woman may not convey her separate 
real estate, except in a joint deed with her 
husband, and yet in most of the States, the 
separate property of the wife is recognized. 
There is no imprisonment for debt in any 
part of the Republic ; and, when a farmer 
has become involved, (in more than half 
the States,) his homestead is exempt from 
execution ; and in all of them household 
furniture to the extent of five hundred dol- 
lars, wearing apparel, tools and books neces- 
sary to carry on business, one to five cows, 
one yoke of oxen, ten sheep, carts and farm- 
ing implements ; and the uniform and arms 
of any man who is or has been in the pub- 



04 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

lie service, are also exempt from the grasp 
of the creditor. When the head of a family 
dies, without making a will, his property is 
equal]}' divided among his children or their 
offspring, and when there are no lineal de- 
scendants, the estate goes to the next of 
kin. 

The next division of farm life we have 
to consider, is that of the Western States. 
Of these there are sixteen in all, thirteen 
in the valley of the Mississippi river, and 
three on the Pacific Ocean. Their extent 
is so immense, and their products so numer- 
ous, that it is difficult for the mind to com- 
prehend their importance and influence. 
Four of them were, until recently, classed 
among the Slave States, and because the 
system of slave labor therein has become 
greatly modified by free labor, they can 
hardly be, with propriety, embraced in our 
present review. Asa wheat-producing re- 
gion, the Western States have progressed 
in a manner perfectly amazing, until they 
now stand unsurpassed by any other region 



•LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 65 

of like extent in the world. Although the 
population has increased about fifty per 
cent, in the last twenty years, the increase 
of produce has greatly exceeded that of 
population. But the relative value of all 
the other cereals, and other farm produc- 
tions in these States is quite as extensive 
and remarkable as that of wheat. That 
the people who are annually bringing out 
of the soil such immense wealth, are wide- 
awake and industrious is self-evident. Gen- 
erally speaking the farms are much larger 
than those in the Middle States, and the 
farm hands very much more numerous. 
Very many of the farmers with whom we 
come in contact, seem to have settled in the 
country with limited means. Some bought 
land, with no more money than would pay 
the first instalment on it, and had to work 
for others to make money to pay the other 
instalments as they came due. They are 
able, in this way, in a few years to settle 
down and cultivate their own soil : and this 
method of operating is in progress to-day. 



66 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

When farms are rented, which is often clone, 
the system adopted is as follows. If the 
tenant is not able to provide stock, imple- 
ments and seed, the proprietor supplies him 
with all these and then allows him one-third 
of the grain crops. In this way many a 
man works himself into a farm of his own. 
The ordinary rate of interest on borrowed 
money is ten per cent., but even at this 
high rate it usually pays a farmer well, and 
there is every facility given to respectable 
and industrious men. There are often cul- 
tivated farms in the market for sale, but 
persons desiring to purchase cannot always 
be present; and in buying second hand 
farms, it is well to be certain, that it has 
not been previously mortgaged. As is the 
case in all other branches of business, the 
man who has the best capacity is likely to 
be the most successful, and the operations 
of some of the more famous farmers in the 
West sound more like romance than reality. 
For example, there was lately one farm in 
Illinois which contained about forty thou- 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 07 

sand acres, with one pasture field of eight 
thousand acres : its chief production was 
corn, all of which was consumed upon the 
farm itself; but in one year the proprietor 
sent to New York City, cattle enough to bring 
seventy thousand dollars, while his home 
stock was valued at one million of dollars ; 
and yet the man lived in a small house, in 
the most simple and unpretending style, 
and habitually sat down at the same table 
with his hired men. But the farming ex- 
ploits of this man, were eclipsed subse- 
quently, by those of another who is now 
carrying on a farm of fifty thousand acres. 
With regard to another of the model farms 
of Illinois, we may state, that it contains 
thirty-six thousand acres, and last year 
had one corn field of five thousand live 
hundred acres jdelding two hundred and 
twenty thousand bushels, three thousand 
tons of hay, four thousand head of cattle, 
and gave employment to eighty-five plows, 
fifteen planting machines and fifteen mow- 
ing machines. The hed^e fencing on this 



68 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

farm measures about one hundred and thirty 
miles, and contains also about eighty miles 
of board fencing. There is however still 
another farm, located in Illinois, which 
ought to be mentioned in this place, as it is 
reputed to be one of the most extensive 
and successful in the world. It is called 
the Burr Oak Farm and is owned by a man 
named Sullivant. It embraces sixty-five 
square miles ; and although the owner com- 
menced work upon it only four years ago, 
he has at the present time, growing upon it 
not less than eleven thousand acres of corn, 
and five thousand acres besides, planted in 
miscellaneous crops. The hedges which 
cross, re-cross and surround the farm, meas- 
ure three hundred miles, the board fences 
six miles and the ditches one hundred and 
fifty miles. The working men employed 
on this farm are mostly Swedes and Ger- 
mans, number two hundred and fifty, and 
are constantly employed from the first of 
April to the first of January. They work 
ten hours per day, report to the proprietor 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 69 

every evening, and are not allowed the use 
of any intoxicating drinks. The working 
animals of the farm consist of three hundred 
and fifty mules, fifty horses and fifty yoke of 
oxen, and it is amply supplied with the ordi- 
nary stock of an extensive farm ; and the 
leading machinery employed consists of one 
hundred and fifty steel plows, seventy-five 
breaking plows ; one hundred and forty-two 
cultivators ; forty-five corn planters, and 
twenty-five harrows ; and it has one ditch- 
ing plow which is drawn by sixty-eight oxen 
and managed by eight men. The house in 
which the proprietor resides is a common 
wooden structure, comfortable, but without 
the least pretention. It will be understood 
of course, that farms of this extent are not 
found in every county or State ; but they 
give us an idea of the spirit that animates the 
farming fraternity generally. Let us now on 
the other hand, look at the operations of 
one or two small farmers in Illinois. One 
man, for example purchased eighty acres 
of prairie land for $360. Spent $500 on 



70 LIFE AMONG FAEMERS AND PLANTERS. 

improvements, his crops for the first year 
brought him over $1,500, and at the close 
of the third year, his farm was sold for 
$2,000. Another man with a capital of 
only $700, bought one hundred and sixty 
acres : his annual produce for six years 
was $2,000, at the end of which time he was 
worth about ten thousand dollars. And 
such instances as the above have occurred 
by the thousand in the great West. As 
we srlance over the immense number of 
farmers who are toiling throughout the 
Western States, it is quite impossible to 
depict their manners and customs with any- 
thing like accuracy. So many are the nat- 
ionalities which compose the great mass of 
inhabitants, the mere mention of these is 
indeed a kind of description. In Illinois 
and Ohio, the Germans, Irish and English 
are about equally divided ; in Wisconsin 
the English and Germans predominate ; and 
Missouri is most extensively settled by the 
Germans. In the States bordering on the 
Great Lakes and the Upper .Mississippi 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 71 

several Scandinavian colonies have been 
established ; and there has been a consider- 
able immigration of Chinese into California, 
but this latter class has not manifested any 
strong predisposition for Agricultural pur- 
suits. The great variety of nationalities 
which sometimes congregate in one region 
was strickingly exemplified a few years ago 
when the State of Wisconsin was obliged 
to publish its Governor's message in not 
less than eight languages. The amount of 
money sent across the ocean by immigrants, 
to friends left behind, principally to pay 
their passage to America, is surprising. 
From the official returns of Emigration Com- 
missioners of England, it appears that in 
1870 there were sent from this country to 
Ireland, principally, $3,630,040 in gold, of 
which $1,663,190, was for pre-paid passage. 
In the twenty-three years from 1848 to 1870 
the amount of money sent was $81,670,000 
in gold, being an average of about $3,889,- 
047 yearly. But this amount is probably 
somewhat below the actual amount, as 



72 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

it only includes what has been sent through 
banks and commercial houses. And these 
sums, large as they are, are made up by 
careful savings from the wages of servant 
girls and farm laborers. In California, 
Missouri and Ohio, the grape has been so 
extensively cultivated as to give them the 
reputation of being the Wine producing 
regions of the United States ; and among 
their vineyards Ave find many of the habits 
prevailing which are common to the wine 
districts of Europe. In California a farm 
is called a Ranch, and one of the most noted 
ones in that State may be described as fol- 
lows. It contains eighteen thousand (18,- 
000) acres ; and last year sixteen hun- 
dred (1600) acres were devoted to wheat, 
eight hundred (800) to barley, two hundred 
(200) to oats, two hundred (200) to meadow, 
and about fifteen thousand (15,000) acres 
to orchards, vineyards and pasturage. The 
fruit trees number eight thousand (8000,) 
the grape-vines fifty thousand (50,000) ; 
and the live stock consists of two hundred 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 73 

(200) horses, one thousand (1000) head of 
cattle, three thousand (3000) sheep and two 
thousand (2000) swine; and the entire 
domain is surrounded with good fences. 
From the above and other facts already 
narrated, it will be seen that the United 
States are supplied with all kinds of farm- 
ers ; some cultivating their thousands of 
acres, and others their half dozen ; and yet 
they all seem to live comfortably, and the 
great majority are independent. And there 
are numerous instances of American women 
who have been, and are to-day, quite suc- 
cessful in the management of farms ; and 
what will be the result of the extensive 
emigration from China to this country now 
going on, is a problem, which can only be 
settled by the future. 

Our next subject for consideration is the 
Plantation Life of the Southern States. 
Only about six years have now passed away, 
since the close of the civil war, which re- 
sulted in the emancipation of more than 
four millions of slaves, and a glance at the 



74 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

condition of the South, before that great 
event, would seem to be necessary. In 
1860 there were fifteen States in which 
Slavery existed, and all of them, excepting 
five, made war upon the General Govern- 
ment — four of them having already been 
mentioned, as among the Western States. 
They contained a population of 4,334,250, 
of whom only 383,637 were Slave owners. 
The number of Plantations under cultiva- 
tion was estimated at seven hundred and 
sixty-five thousand, comprehending about 
seventy-five millions of acres : and as to the 
cotton and sugar, rice, wheat, corn, and 
live-stock, which were produced upon them, 
they can only be appreciated by consulting 
the publications of the Census Office. The 
planter was the owner, not only of broad 
acres, almost without number, but also of, 
from ten to one thousand menials or slaves, 
whom he fed and clothed for his own exclu- 
sive profit, and who. for the most part, did 
his bidding without a murmur or thought 
beyond the passing hour. He lived at his 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 75 

ease among books and in the dispensation 
of a liberal hospitality, leaving all the labor 
on his plantation to the direction of an over- 
seer, who spent most of his time on horse- 
back, issuing orders to the working men 
and women, and watching the regular pro- 
gress of affairs. According to his wealth, 
the planter lived in a house, or an elegant 
mansion, while his slaves were domiciled 
in rude but comfortable cabins. They re- 
ceived a supply of provisions, but no com- 
pensation in money ; although it was cus- 
tomary to allow them the use of a patch of 
ground for their own benefit, and a fragment 
of time out of each day or week to cultivate 
it. But all this is now changed : Slave 
labor has no existence on the soil of the 
United States : and the opinion is universal 
that the suppression of slave labor will ulti- 
mately add greatly to the national advance- 
ment of all the States in which it formerly 
existed. Among the results following the 
late rebellion, was the fact, that much of 
the property in the Southern States passed 



76 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

into new hands. Many old plantations 
were abandoned by their owners and have 
never been reclaimed, others have been con- 
fiscated, and others sold at a ruinous sacri- 
fice. Many of the soldiers, who went 
South, who had been raised among the 
rocky hills of the North, became in love 
with the rich and beautiful fields and val- 
leys of the South, and thousands resolved 
to settle in the new country, 'i hey married 
Southern women, formed new alliances and 
associations, and have opened up a new ca- 
reer for the South which is rapidly becom- 
ing more and more salutary in its influences. 
The great landed estates which have been 
cut up, may be purchased by all new com- 
ers, at a very small cost, while the black 
race to a great extent have settled upon 
small patches of land, where they can main- 
tain themselves in comfort and enjoy an in- 
dependence of thought and feeling which 
they did not know under the old order of 
things. Whole plantations have been set- 
tled bv families of owners, who were form- 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 77 

erly slaves upon the same estates. Men 
who were formerly overseers or superin- 
tendents, are themselves settling down upon 
their own newly acquired farms. Although 
attempts to obtain laborers from China and 
Sweden have been made, the principal cul- 
tivators of the Southern States are the 
Freedmen : who, indolent by nature, do as 
little work as possible, will not hire out for 
more than a single year, and one of the re- 
sults of their freedom is, that they will not 
let their wives work as in the olden times. 
To retain their services, the planter is 
obliged to praise and humor them in many 
ways. The terms upon which the negroes 
are hired is generally to let them have one- 
half of what they produce, but when sup- 
ported by the planter they receive but one 
quarter of what they produce. When the 
planters are attentive to their business they 
almost invariably succeed, and when un- 
successful as farmers, they are apt to help 
their pockets by keeping small country 
stores, and in all the towns are located men 



78 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

who are called warehouse-men, whose busi- 
ness is to receive, store and sell all the cot- 
ton or other produce which may be con- 
signed to their care. What the people of 
the South now need is help — not lands ; 
and in many of the most fertile regions, 
every inducement is thrown out to invite 
emigration from the North. But, after all, 
it is idle to suppose, that the griefs, the 
passions and animosities engendered by the 
late rebellion, will die out while the present 
generation survives. Too many brave men 
have perished, too many homes made deso- 
late, too many families broken up and re- 
duced to beggary, to expect anything of 
that sort. Men whom it has impoverished 
will live and die poor, remembering con- 
stantly, the cause of their poverty. Widows 
will long mourn over husbands, children 
over fathers, slain in battle. A new and 
happier era is in store for the rising genera- 
tion ; but its advance will be slow. The 
people of the North and of the South, it is 
fondly hoped and believed, will again be- 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 79 

come a happy, a united, and prosperous 
people ! united in interests, in pursuits, in 
intelligence, and in patriotic devotion to 
their united country. 

Of all the products grown in the Southern 
States the most important and universal is 
Cotton, and it has been asserted that it was 
this single commodity which prevented that 
portion of the Union from relapsing into 
abject poverty. Everything was sacrificed 
to. Slavery, and Slavery sacrificed every- 
thing to itself; and as there were not slaves 
enough to cultivate the soil as it needed, 
cotton raising was all that saved the coun- 
try. The principal States where cotton is 
now grown are Mississippi, Alabama, Lou- 
isiana, Georgia, Texas, and Arkansas, and 
in all of them, efforts are being made for 
the introduction of Chinese labor. The 
cultivation of rice is limited to three States, 
South Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana: 
Sugar cane and its products, — in the way 
of Sugar and Molasses, — to Louisiana : In 
Florida considerable attention is paid to the 



80 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

cultivation of oranges, lemons, and other 
tropical fruits : Wheat and tobacco have 
occupied the chief attention of farmers in 
Virginia and the neighboring States of 
Tennessee and Kentucky : North Carolina 
has acquired a reputation for its sweet po- 
tatoes and ground nuts. Indian Corn is 
an important product in all the Southern 
States : while the mountain lands, which 
in all directions are coveted with grass as 
well as extensive forests, are devoted to the 
grazing of cattle in great numbers, where 
they flourish throughout the year without 
shelter or any special care. In all the 
States lying directly on the gulf of Mexico 
the climate is mild, the winters short, open, 
and delightful, and farm work can be done 
every month in the year. They begin there 
to make their gardens in December, and 
until the following December there is a 
continuous succession of crops. The peo- 
ple live easily and produce more for the 
same amount of labor than in any of the 
Northern States. Lands are cheap and 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 81 

may often be paid for by a single crop. 
The timber is everywhere magnificent, and 
the lands are irrigated by numerous streams, 
and adapted to an unlimited variety of pro- 
ducts. And for the raising of cattle there 
is not a region probably, in the worM, bet- 
ter suited for that purpose than the exten- 
sive State of Texas. In some localities, 
the cattle maybe counted by the thousand, 
and it is an amazing fact that droves of 
them are annually sent by the Stock-raisers 
as far off as California ; and Texas cattle 
have even been butchered in the city of 
New York, and even cargoes of Texas beef 
have been shipped in ice to Philadelphia. 
From ten to twelve men are required for a 
herd of a thousand cattle, with two horses 
or mules to each man, for day and night 
duty, the cattle needing to be herded at 
night to prevent stampedes. For those who 
have never witnessed its operations, it is 
difficult to realize the extent of this cattle 
traffic, and it is sometimes the case that the 
whole earth seems to be covered with the 



82 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

herds, as far as the eye can reach over the 
vast prairies. The class of people common- 
ly known as the "Texas Cow-boys" are 
indeed a power in the land, whose exploits 
and lives of adventure are more like romance 
than reality. And here, in passing, we may 
with propriety devote a paragraph to the 
various modes employed by farmers in Fenc- 
ing. In those regions where loose rocks are 
abundant, stone walls are almost universal: 
where both stone and wood are scarce, they 
have a fashion of planting trees and shrub- 
bery : as a matter of taste, wire fences are 
occasionally employed. In all localities 
where wood is abundant, they make what 
are called post and rail and worm fences. 
It is said that the fences of New York have 
cost $144,000,000, those of Pennsylvania 
$120,000,000, Ohio $115,000,000, and 
South Carolina $20,000,000, while the 
fences of the whole Union are estimated 
at $1,300,000,000. These figures are enor- 
mous, but they tend to exhibit the extent 
of the farming interests of America. 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 83 

Having now taken a general survey of 
the Agricultural population of America, 
we shall conclude what we have to say, 
with a few remarks on their manners and 
customs, as exemplified try certain amuse- 
ments, which are for the most, peculiar 
to this country. And first, as to the 
Sugar-Making Frolics. In various parts of 
the Union, large quantities of sugar are an- 
nually made from the sap of the Maple tree. 
The moment winter breaks, and the sap 
begins to ascend in the spring, the trees are 
tapped, and the liquid thus obtained is boiled 
down until it becomes a rich syrup or gran- 
ulated sugar. All this takes place in the 
dense woods, and most of the work is per- 
formed at night. At the close of the sea- 
son the farmers invite their friends and 
neighbors to a kind of jubilee which is held 
in the sugar camps, and where, with sump- 
tuous fare, followed by music and dancing, 
the entire night is given to enjoyment ; and 
when the last cauldron of sugar has been 
made, and daylight has appeared, the com- 



84 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

pany is dispersed, and the sugar utensils 
are packed away until the coming of another 
season. Corresponding to the above, in 
most of the corn-growing regions they have 
what are called " Com Hastings." This 
entertainment occurs when a farmer is anx- 
ious to prepare for market an unusual quan- 
tity of the yellow maize ; and in the North 
or West, when the young men and country 
lasses have met, they are piloted to the 
spacious and sweet-smelling barn, and for 
a stated time all work without ceasing, un- 
til the allotted task is performed ; an ad- 
journment then takes place to the farm 
house, where feasting and dancing continue 
all the night long. When this frolic occurs 
in the South, the colored people there do 
the work, and enjoy themselves in their 
own rude, but amusing ways, while the 
white people for whom they may happen 
to be working, act as the hosts, content to 
enjoy the laughable scenes brought to view. 
In the New England States, especially those 
regions bordering on the Sea, thev have 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 85 

what are called " Clam Bakes." These are 
usually attended by men only, who con- 
gregate from various quarters ; for the pur- 
pose of exchanging political opinions, and 
having a systematic good time, when 
speeches are delivered, and large quantities 
of cheering beverages are imbibed, as well 
as Clams eaten, after a primitive fashion. 
The shell fish are roasted in an open field 
and duly prepared with the desired condi- 
ments. These affairs take place in the sum- 
mer after the leading harvests have been 
gathered in. In the Southern States, cer- 
tain festivals are common, but more so be- 
fore the late war than now, which are 
known as " Barbecues." They are political, 
and sometimes bring together very large 
numbers of the planters and their families, 
and the time is generally devoted to speech- 
making, happily varied by eating and drink- 
ing the good things of the land. The prin- 
cipal food on these occasions, consists of 
beef or mutton, and the oxen or sheep are 
roasted entire, over a pit duly prepared and 



86 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

filled with burning coals. The cooks and 
caterers are generally negro men and wo- 
nien, and as they have the privilege of in- 
viting their own friends, the groves where 
they assemble present a varied and fantastic 
scene. The young people have it all their 
own way. and there is no end to the variety 
of their amusements. Another rural cus- 
tom is known as a " House-Raising." This 
occurs after some farmer has prepared his 
timber for a new house or barn, when he 
invites his friends and neighbors to come 
and help him to lift the timbers and cross 
pieces into their proper places. This invi- 
tation is always cheerfully accepted, and 
most of the time is devoted to downright 
hard work. But after the task has been 
accomplished the men have a substantial 
feast and a good long talk about their farms, 
their crops and cattle, and commonly sepa- 
rate with a warm brotherly feeling for each 
other and for their fellow-men everywhere. 
In some of the fruit-growing regions, large 
quantities of apples are stripped of their 



LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 87 

skins, cut into quarter pieces, and hung up 
to dry for winter use, and in that condition 
become a source of revenue. Out of this 
variety of business has grown an Autum- 
nal festival called an "Apple-Paring." This 
takes place in the evening, the guests are 
invited as to an ordinary party, and after 
a few hours attention to business, the night 
is given up to feasting and dancing, or the 
playing of innocent games by the young 
people who compose the majority. Ball- 
playing and Sleigh-riding, are tw^o other pas- 
times in which the Americans indulge with 
rare gusto. By the rural population Satur- 
day afternoon is usually assigned to the 
former, on which occasions the young men 
are as active and expert in throwing and 
catching, or striking the ball, as if they 
had been idle all the previous week instead 
of having had to work in the fields with the 
utmost energy. Sleigh-riding of course 
takes place in the winter only, when the 
ground is covered with snow, and then it is 
that the young farmers bring out their best 



88 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

horses, fill their Sleighs with lady friends, 
enveloped in gaily trimmed furs, and to the 
exhilirating music of the hells, start off on 
all sorts of expeditions over the neighbor- 
ing country. From time immemorial it has 
been the custom among the negroes of the 
South to devote the last week of the year 
commonly called Christmas Holidays to 
every variety of amusement. When slav- 
ery existed, those prolonged festivities 
were freely accorded to the slaves, and were 
full of romantic interest ; but now that they 
are free, the colored people claim their old 
privilege as a right, but do not find the 
same unalloyed enjoyment as of old in their 
annual frolic. They have not as yet ar- 
rived at that stage, when they can enjoy 
the Messing of supporting themselves. 
About the close of the year they have in 
various parts of the country what they call 
" Shooting Hatches'' These are of two 
kinds, one where turkeys and other birds 
are tied to a stake, and made a target for 
men who like to shoot the rifle, and exper- 






LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 89 

ienced shots sometimes win a sufficient 
quantity of large poultry to supply all their 
friends. Another kind of match is, when 
two parties pit themselves against each 
other, and go upon a hunt for a day or a 
week, for squirrels or birds of game, when 
the victors are rewarded with a prize of 
some kind, paid for by the losing party. 
And then they have throughout the country 
such rural jollifications as Sheep-Shearing, 
Ploughing Matches, and, to the discredit 
of the participants, Cock-Fig Mings, which 
need not be described. But of all rural 
assemblages none are so generally popular as 
Country Fairs. They occur in the Autumn 
in numerous localities, and bring together 
thousands of the Agricultural population. 
The first Agricultural fair ever organized 
in this country by any of the colored popu- 
lation, was recently carried through with 
success in the State of Kentucky. Farm 
products, animals and country fabrics are 
exhibited to a marvellous extent, in many 
of these fairs. All sorts of friendly compe- 



90 LIFE AMONG FARMERS AND PLANTERS. 

titions are entered into, and Horse-racing, 
has become an important adjunct to all these 
Fairs, whether patronized by the State at 
large, or confined to the counties where they 
are held. But the crowning custom, and 
the one most universally recognized by the 
American people, is, the celebration of what 
is known as Thanksgiving Day. It is an 
annual festival honored by proclamations 
from the President, and the local Governors, 
who specify the particular day ; and of all 
places to enjoy it, none can be compared to 
the house of a successful farmer. The prim- 
ary object of this festival is to recognize the 
goodness of the Almighty in crowning the 
labors of the field with prosperity, and the 
occasion is made especially joyous by the 
gathering together, under one roof, all the 
scattered members of the family in the old 
home. There are some other rural customs, 
which might be mentioned in this place, but 
as they are of a religious character we shall 
defer them for a subsequent chapter of this 
volume. 



PART THIRD 



COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVEL- 
OPMENTS. 



The inland and coast line navigation of 
the United States, is not surpassed, in ex- 
tent and character, by any country on the 
globe ; and the industry and enterprise of 
the Americans in developing their commer- 
cial and shipping interests, has been, until 
within the last few years, equal to their 
superior advantages. Passing by all statis- 
tics in regard to the tonnage of the country, 
let us take a brief survey of the vessels 
and navigators which have given the coun- 
try its reputation. By far the largest pro- 
portion of American vessels are run upon 
inland waters, and are called small craft, 
but the sea-going vessels, if less numerous, 
are generally as large as those of any 



94 COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

other nation, and have been constructed 
on unsurpassed models. The ships called 
" Liners," which, a few years ago, ran be- 
tween New York and Liverpool acquired 
wide celebrity, and have never been sur- 
passed for beauty and speed. But they 
have been superceded by steamers, and 
ships of that class now transact the same 
business. The burthen of those sailing- 
vessels was about two thousand tons ; they 
were splendidly equipped, swift, were com- 
manded and manned by the best metal, and 
did an immense business in bringing mer- 
chandize and immigrants to America. But 
with the calamities that have befallen the 
mercantile marine of this country, they have 
nearly all passed away. During the fiscal 
year of 1870, there were less than one hun- 
dred thousand tons of sea-going vessels 
built in the United States, and less than 
three hundred thousand tons of ail descrip- 
tions of vessels, which amount was about 
equalled by the vessels built on the Clyde 
alone, while the tonnage of steam vessels 



COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 95 

built all in England, was sixty times greater 
than that of America. One result of this 
falling off in American ship-building has 
been that large numbers of men, who were 
brought up on the ocean, are seen turning 
their attention to a variety of pursuits con- 
nected wholly with the land. The inland 
waters of the country are most abundantly 
supplied with steamboats, and all the varie- 
ties of the smaller sailing vessels ; the coast- 
ing trade, and fishing interests, are quite as 
important and extensive as heretofore, but 
new vessels are by no means now turned 
out with the rapidity that they were a few 
years ago. It was the late war, also, which 
helped to put back the carrying trade of 
America, but with the return of peace and 
the final restoration of the Union, the old 
order of things began to be restored. When 
the Great Rebellion, or rather the British 
cruisers, sailing under its flag, drove Ameri- 
can shipping from the seas, and thus trans- 
ferred the carrying trade to foreign bottoms, 
the commerce of Philadelphia suffered in 



96 COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

common with that of other cities. The 
substitution of iron for wood, at about the 
same time, as the material for first-class 
steamships, left the country not only with- 
out ships, but behind other nations in facili- 
ties for making them. Boston, New York 
and Baltimore soon recovered in good part 
their former commerce through the help of 
foreign subsidized steamship lines. But 
Philadelphia, more thoroughly imbued with 
American ideas, made little effort to secure 
such foreign lines, but waited to build a 
line of her own, which will soon be estab- 
lished between that city and Liverpool. 
In 1860 the tonnage of the United States 
amounted to 5,353,868 tons, and in 1870, 
to 4,246,507 tons. Notwithstanding the 
above facts, however, the commerce of the 
country is very large and flourishing, since 
it appears that the American imports for 
1870, amounted to about six hundred mil- 
lions of dollars and the exports about four 
hundred millions. The great variety of na- 
tive productions exported from America 



COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 97 

gives assurance of the impossibility of fail- 
ure in the resources of the nation. For ex- 
ample, from the Sea, they have such pro- 
ducts as oil, whalebone, spermiciti, and 
many kinds, in great abundance, of fish ; 
from the Forest, timber, shingles, staves, 
lumber, naval stores and furs ; from Agri- 
culture, every description of corn and vege- 
table food, and the products of animals, in 
the way of beef, pork, tallow, hides, bacon, 
cheese, butter, wool, lard and hams, with 
horned cattle, horses, and other animals. 
From the Southern States they have cot- 
ton, tobacco, rice, and sugar ; from the fac- 
tories, every variety of useful goods ; while 
their exports of specie and bullion, have 
never been exceeded by any other nation. 
And as to their imports, they are simply 
enormous — silks and furniture being the 
most important, and for which there has 
always been a demand. But the crowning 
element of American Commerce is its inter- 
nal trade ; and in this connection, we can- 
not, perhaps, mention a more remarkable 



98 COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

fact than this, that the production of spirit- 
uous liquors in 1870 amounted to $600,- 
000,000, — the persons engaged in selling it 
by retail, numbering not less than one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand ; while the impor- 
tation of opium from China amounted to 
nearly $2,000,000. The distances in Amer- 
ica are so great that the internal trade and 
traffic of the country has been, and must 
always be, a business of vast importance. 
And the extent of territory implies great 
diversity of productions. The growths of 
tropical regions are exchanged for the field 
crops and forest produce of cooler latitudes; 
and in another direction, the products of 
the coast and of extensive interior districts 
are exchanged. The tide of emigration sets 
from east to west, while the tide of com- 
merce flows from west to east; and we can 
only obtain an adequate idea of the inland 
commerce by considering the enormous ex- 
tent of the inland shipping and the railway 
facilities of the country. 

But it is with the social aspect of Amer- 



COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 99 

ican Commerce that we have to do at the 
present time. The grand business centre 
of the nation is New York City. Having 
direct and constant intercourse with all 
parts of the world, the nationality of its 
merchants is as varied, as the countries 
which they represent. Of the native-born 
merchants the most numerous and success- 
ful originated in the New England States, 
and are distinguished for their intelligence, 
ability and elevated personal characteristics. 
They live in elegant houses, and while sur- 
rounded by all the appliances of prosperity 
and wealth, are not prone to making a great- 
er display than their less fortunate neigh- 
bors ; they are plain in their manners, and 
hospitable ; and if many of them happen to 
indulge in keeping up fancy residences in the 
country, the largest proportion are quite 
content to spend their summer vacations, 
by the sea-side, or among the green hills of 
their native States. They devote them- 
selves to business with ceaseless activity, 
and are the men who generally take pleas- 



100 COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

ure in expending their surplus capital upon 
all sorts of benevolent, religious and educa- 
tional institutions. A type of merchants, 
allied to these, is also found in all the other 
cities of the country. Next to them come 
the English, French and German merchants, 
who generally deal in the kind of merchan- 
dize sent out from their several countries. 
In their modes of transacting business, and 
of living, they adhere as closely as possible 
to the customs of their native lands, but 
with many modifications. The particular 
men who laid the commercial foundation of 
New York, were from Holland, but their 
characteristics have been amalgamated, with 
those of the various nationalities which 
have, latterly, made that city the most cos- 
mopolitan in the country. While a very 
large trade is carried on between New York 
and the Oriental nations, the merchants of 
Boston have long considered themselves the 
special patrons and friends of the far East, 
and that city has always been a noted mart 
for the commodities of India, China, and 



COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 101 

Japan, in which particular it is now finding 
a rival in San Francisco. Its coasting trade 
is also very extensive, and it is the port 
whence various manufactures are shipped 
in immense quantities. The whaling busi- 
ness, which was formerly divided between 
several cities, is now almost entirely con- 
fined to New Bedford ; the merchants of 
which city, like those of Boston, are proud 
of their descent from what is called the Puri- 
tan stock. In Philadelphia, where the coast- 
ing trade is almost unparalleled, they have, 
what is called a Quaker element of popula- 
tion, which has always been noted for its 
integrity in matters of business — but this 
city is now vieing with New York in the 
cosmopolitan character of its merchants, — 
and in the person of Stephen Grirard pro- 
duced one of the wealthiest and most emi- 
nent merchants in America. With regard 
to Baltimore and Charleston, Mobile, and 
New Orleans, — all these places are the 
natural outlets of the entire Southern half 
of the United States, and in all of them 



102 COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

may be found an abundant supply of mer- 
chants from the four quarters of the globe. 
And corresponding with the cities just 
named, there are throughout the interior of 
the country, very many cities which have 
grown into centres of trade and commerce, 
with marvellous rapidity ; among them may 
be mentioned Chicago, (whose merchants, 
are now building up a large tea trade with 
China, by way of San Francisco,) Detroit, 
Cleveland, St. Louis, and Cincinnati, Louis- 
ville, Buffalo and Pittsburg, in all of which 
may be found the principal nationalities of 
the globe. Looking at the commercial 
classes, in the aggregate, it is quite impos- 
sible to give prominence to any nationality ; 
and it would seem as if, after a brief resi- 
dence in America, the whole mercantile 
population, with one exception, becomes 
permeated with the characteristics of the 
native-born inhabitants. The exception al- 
luded to is the Jewish race. They are 
found in every city, and almost in .every 
hamlet, — always engaged in bartering and 



COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 103 

selling, and never in producing, and they 
are pre-eminently a wandering people. With 
them, the one great end of life, would seem 
to be, to make money, but where they set- 
tle down to enjoy it has always been a 
mystery. 

In America as elsewhere, permanent suc- 
cess in business is chiefly dependent upon 
character ; honest and upright men are sure 
to command the respect of their neighbors, 
and when unfortunate, always find their 
fellow merchants ready to assist them ; and 
when men of bad repute happen to make 
fortunes, they generally find it convenient 
to settle down among strangers, to enjoy 
their ill-gotten gains. One of the effects of 
the late war in this country, was to enrich 
a large number of adventurers and unscru- 
pulous men who made money by imposing 
upon the General Government, through po- 
litical intrigues, and it was because of their 
foolishness in spending their money and 
putting on airs, to which they were not ac- 
customed, that they came to be known by 



104 COMMEKCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

the opprobrious title of shoddy, in remem- 
brance of a spurious cloth which some of 
them palmed off for the use of the army. 
But the average American merchant of to- 
day is a man who deserves and receives uni- 
versal respect. He is intelligent, but not 
addicted to the profits and pleasures of lit- 
erature. Engaged all day in the excite- 
ment of commercial speculation, he has but 
little time to devote to reading, and improv- 
ing his mind. He works so hard and so 
constantly, that work becomes a second na- 
ture to him, prostrating his energies and 
making him indifferent to proper recrea- 
tions ; he considers his word as good as his 
bond, and, to protect his credit, will make 
the greatest sacrifice of property ; he is 
liberal in his feelings and gives freely to all 
objects which have the sanction of his good 
opinion; he is hospitable, but would prefer 
to have his wife and daughters, attend to 
the honors of his house and table ; and when 
overcome by reverses, he takes a new start, 
changes the character of his business, per- 



COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 105 

haps, and will not acknowledge himself as 
overwhelmed, and proves his metal by at- 
taining final success. Perhaps there is no 
feature in the character of the Americans 
which is so remarkable as their spirit of 
enterprise. It is indeed wonderful and is 
the cause of their success. But it does nut 
follow that this enterprise is all native born ; 
a portion of it is undoubtedly brought into 
the country by intelligent men from the 
leading countries of Europe. 

But let us now take a glance at some of 
the phases of their commercial life, or rather 
at the classes of men who transact the mer- 
cantile business of the country, and first as 
to the shipping merchants. To carry on 
their business a large capital is required, 
and as individuals or organized companies, 
they are generally the leading patrons of 
the great ship yards. They have vessels 
built to order, and also buy them in open 
market ; they establish lines of communi- 
cation between home ports, by way of lakes 
and rivers, and between the United States 



106 COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

and foreign countries ; and they are the 
men who so frequently obtain valuable con- 
tracts from the Government for carrying 
the mails, as in the case of the Pacific 
Steamship Company, which receives not 
less than five hundred thousand dollars for 
conveying a semi-monthly mail from San 
Francisco to China and Japan. One of the 
most famous of these men is named Corne- 
lius Vanderbilt. Another class of shipping 
merchants are those who simply direct or 
superintend the business for other parties. 
They are indeed what might be called, more 
properly, Brokers. The wealthiest man 
who ever lived in the country, John Jacob 
Astor, and who left about $25,000,000, was 
at one time engaged in the shipping busi- 
ness, and made a great deal of money by 
sending his ships to China, but he was pre- 
eminently a trader in furs. Then come the 
Importing Merchants. They have their 
agents located in foreign countries, purchase 
and sell their merchandize only in the bulk, 
and are the men who give the greatest im- 



COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 107 

petus to the home trade. Some merchants 
of this class, engaged in trade with the Ori- 
ental nations, have followed the same busi- 
ness for nearly a century ; many of them 
located in New York and Boston, have ac- 
quired immense fortunes, and it was the 
son of one of these, James Lenox, who lately 
made a donation of a million of dollars for 
the establishment of a Library and Gallery 
of Art in New York. With some few of 
these importers the custom prevails of sel- 
ling their goods by auction, soon after their 
arrival, and in this manner whole cargoes 
of tea from China or sugar from the West 
Indies were sold within the space of half 
an hour. But this business has well nigh 
been absorbed by the class known as Bro- 
kers. Another important class of merchants 
are the wholesale dealers or Jobbers. They 
receive their goods in the bulk from the 
importers and sell them by the piece or in 
broken packages. They sell on credit and 
usually confine themselves to a particular 
class, or a few classes of goods. One house, 



108 COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

for example, will sell only silk goods, 
another, all sorts of cotton fabrics, another 
the several varieties of woolen goods, 
another hardware, and others wooden or 
fancy goods and groceries of every descrip- 
tion. And then there are what are called 
the Retail merchants. They constitute the 
most numerous class, and are to be found 
in every city and village of the land. In 
the larger towns there is no mingling of 
dry goods and groceries, but in the hamlets, 
the merchants find it necessary and to their 
advantage, to keep for sale everything that 
the people can possibly require — from a 
yard of callico or a piece of ribbon, a paper 
of buttons or needles, to a pound of tea or 
coffee or sugar or shot, or a cake of soap. 
It is sometimes the case, however, that the 
importing, jobbing and retail trades are 
carried on by the same firm, and there is 
one man located in New York City, Alex- 
ander T. Stewart, who is reputed to be the 
wealthiest and most influential merchant of 
this sort, in the world. His establishments 



COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 1C9 

are on the most stupendous scale ; he em- 
ploys agents and clerks by the hundred ; 
and his passion for business is so strong 
that he is among the first, as well as the 
last, in his daily attendance at his enor- 
mous warehouses. This man began his 
career a poor and friendless boy, and besides 
building a palace for himself, giving away 
millions lor the comfort of the poor, he is 
now engaged, at an immense outlay, in 
founding a model town in the vicinity of 
New York. The Commission Merchants 
form another very extensive class of the 
business men. To carry on their business, 
less capital is required than for those already 
named, but it is important that their credit 
should be unimpeachable. They receive 
goods or produce, from the manufacturers 
or farmers, and sell them to the best ad- 
vantage, receiving for themselves merely a 
certain per cent, on the amount of sales, in 
the way of commission, for trouble and ex- 
penses. With regard to the subordinates, 
who are employed by the more important 



110 COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

merchants, they consist of Drummers, who 
devote their time to hunting up customers ; 
of Clerks who sell goods and keep the books ; 
of Porters, who pack the goods and do the 
manual labor ; and of Draymen, who carry 
the merchandize to the vessels, of every 
description, and to the railway stations. 
But there are certain other classes of busi- 
ness men in all the commercial marts, whose 
duties are important and whose influence is 
extensive. First among these are the auc- 
tioneers, who sell to the highest bidders, 
real estate, furniture, books, works of art, 
and everything in fact, which the owners 
desire to turn rapidly into money ; then 
come the Brokers, who usually devote them- 
selves to one commodity, such as cotton or 
money, tea and coffee, sugar or grain, who 
have come to be a numerous and useful 
class, and who sell only by samples, receiv- 
ing their pay like the commission merchants. 
They transact the business which was for- 
merly performed by one class of auctioneers. 
The class of men known as Bankers are 



COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. Ill 

those who conduct the moneyed institutions 
of the country, albeit large numbers fol- 
low the business on private account, many 
of whom, in all the leading cities, have ac- 
quired immense fortunes. Of these, per- 
haps the most successful and celebrated is 
now a retired citizen of Washington, and 
who, within the last few years has given 
away, for purposes of charity and culture 
many millions of dollars. And still another 
class of the business men who are very nu- 
merous and constantly increasing, are known 
as Insurance men. They are the managers 
of extensive corporations, who insure in 
stated sums of money, all kinds of property 
from fire and marine disasters, as well as the 
lives of men, who desire to secure a compe- 
tence for their families in the event of death. 
From the foregoing statements it will be seen 
that the machinery of commerce in this 
country is fully organized and very complete. 
But, fully to comprehend the extent and 
range of the commercial interests, we must 
now turn our attention to the System of 



112 COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

Railways as it exists in the United States. 
This is a subject which increases in inter- 
est and importance every year. In 1860 
this s} r stem had already reached a develop- 
ment which was justly regarded as amazing. 
It was the product of but a short time ; 
every mile of road had been built within 
the recollection of men who had not yet 
passed middle life, and three-fourths of it 
all within ten years. Yet there were in 
operation more than thirty-one thousand 
miles of road, which, with their equipment, 
had absorbed of the capital of the country 
not less than twelve hundred and fifty mil- 
lions of dollars, or ten per cent, of the en- 
tire assessed value of property in the United 
States. There were men, however, who 
protested that this interest had outgrown 
the needs of the country, and was the result 
of speculative and artificial influences; that 
it diverted capital from more useful em- 
ployments and tended to retard the pros- 
perity of the country. Nor have these men 
changed their opinion But what a change 



COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 113 

has taken place in this business? From 
the official reports we learn that at the 
commencement of the present year there 
were railroad lines in operation to the ex- 
tent of more than fifty-three thousand miles 
which, with their equipment, cost nearly 
twenty-seven hundred millions of dollars, or 
twenty-two per cent, of the entire assessed 
value of property in the country. Of these 
more than eleven thousand miles have been 
built within two years, and at an expendi- 
ture of four hundred millions of dollars. In 
other words, the people of America have 
contributed during the last ten years more 
than half as much to build railroads as they 
have paid in taxes for the support of the Gov- 
ernment, including the conduct of the war, 
and are now contributing yearly for the same 
purpose two-thirds as much as the whole 
revenue of the national treasury. The to- 
tal earnings of these railroads in 1870 were 
four hundred and fifty millions of dollars ; 
and the gross tonnage transported equalled 
one hundred and twenty-five millions of 



114 COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

tons, having a value of more than ten thou- 
sand millions of dollars. 

Prior to the late war, the American rail- 
roads were regarded almost exclusively in 
their relations to trade, and the comprehen- 
sive study of them was the concern only of 
the economist. But they have now become 
the centres of many forms of power in the 
hands of corporations whose management is 
concentrated, secret, and largely irresponsi- 
ble ; they hold vast accumulations of wealth ; 
employ a large proportion of the scientific 
and practical ability of the nation; they 
exert an immense influence on all the mar- 
kets, and on the social and material welfare 
of the whole people. They are also the 
favorite instruments of speculation, and 
sources of sudden profit; they wield politi- 
cal agencies and parties, in many places, 
and even dictate to the State Legislatures. 
They thus connect themselves with society, 
in so many relations, that their growth and 
influence are becoming an anxious study, 
not only for the economist and the trader, but 



COMMEKCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 115 . 

for the politician, the statesman, and the 
moralist. Hitherto, a large part of the 
capital thus consumed has been borrowed 
from foreign nations, and the want is not 
felt in the United States. But it makes 
part of the debt on which the productive 
industry of the country must pay the inter- 
est. The subject, as it has been well said, 
thus presents important and difficult ques- 
tions for discussion. But all men must ac- 
knowledge that the rapid progress of this 
enormous interest is as wonderful as its 
present magnitude ; and it is plain that the 
ultimate extent to which the construction 
of railroads in America will be carried, no 
estimate can be formed. 

Before leaving this subject we must sub- 
mit a few additional particulars. The av- 
erage rate of speed, with the passenger trains 
in America, is thirty miles per hour, and 
the number of cars in each train, varies 
from five to fifteen ; while the freight trains, 
frequently number not less than one hun- 
dred cars. The locomotives are far more 



116 COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

powerful, and much larger than those on 
English roads, and wood is the common fuel. 
In front of the engine is generally placed a 
massive iron grating called a " cow catcher" 
intended to throw off any animal that may 
be upon the track ; and in winter they are 
supplied with immense plows for the pur- 
pose of cutting through the banks of snow. 
They are supplied with bells as w T ell as 
steam whistles, to be sounded when start- 
ing, or used to give note of coming clanger. 
They are generally managed by three men, 
one engineer and his assistant, and one fire- 
man. The passenger cars are large and 
have from eight to sixteen wheels ; — some 
of them plain and open to all, and others 
called Palace Cars, are very elegantly fitted 
up, and occupied only by those persons who 
are willing to pay an extra fare. On all the 
trains, are also to be found such conveniences 
as " Sleeping" and " Smoking Cars." The 
men who manage the trains while running, 
are the " Conductors," who collect the tick- 
ets ; at the end of each car is stationed a 



COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 117 

brakeman, who helps to regulate the speed ; 
there are also baggage men ; while boys 
with books or papers or fruit are permitted 
to pass through the trains; and upon those 
which cany the United States mail, there is 
always an officer of the General Post Office 
Department. Tickets are purchased before 
entering the cars, and for every piece of 
baggage a metal check is given, so that a 
man may travel a thousand miles or more 
without casting a thought upon his baggage. 
The rails are made of iron and steel and 
single or double tracks are in vogue accord- 
ing to the necessities of the route ; and the 
longest continuous line of railway in Amer- 
ica, running from New York City to San 
Francisco, is three thousand and two hun- 
dred miles. 

As the primary object of commerce is to 
accumulate money, it is proper that we 
should conclude this paper with a general 
Survey of the Finances of the United States, 
and of the people to whom their management 
is intrusted. At the close of the last fiscal 



118 COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

year the debt of the United States amounted 
to $2,480,672,427 ; the reduction, since 
1866, when it reached the highest amount, 
having been $292,563,746. The total Re- 
ceipts of the Government were $566,935,- 
818, while the expenditures amounted to 
$417,433,346, leaving a balance in the 
Treasury of $149,502,471. The money 
spent for the civil service was $19,031,283 ; 
Foreign Intercourse, $1,490,776 ; Military 
Establishment, $57,655,675 ; Naval Estab- 
lishment, $21,780,229; collecting Customs 
Revenue, $6,237,137 ; assessing and col- 
lecting Internal Revenue, $7,234,531 ; 
Light House Establishment, $2,588,300; 
Mint Establishment, $1,067,097; Indians, 
$3,407,938 ; and Pensions, $28,340,202 ; 
while the balance was devoted to miscella- 
neous expenditures. Turning from the 
operations of the National Treasury to the 
Banking Institutions, we find the following 
information : The National Banks, which 
are conducted by private enterprise but 
made perfectly secure by the General Gov- 



COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 119 

eminent, number 1627, and have a capital 
of $436,478,311; the Chartered Banks, 
which are disconnected from the Govern- 
ment, number 1882, and have a capital of 
$503,578,000; the Private Bankers repre- 
sent about $400,000,000 of capital; and 
the Savings Banks are estimated to hold 
about $195,000,000. The system upon 
which all these institutions is managed, is 
quite uniform — each one having a President 
and Cashier, a Board of Directors, and as 
many Clerks as may be required. Taken 
in the aggregate, the bankers of America 
are as upright and intelligent as any in ex- 
istence, but no class, from Presidents down 
to common Clerks, are so liable to go astray, 
and therefore it is that the papers have oc- 
casionally to chronicle acts of dishonesty 
among banking men. On the score of suc- 
cess, it is also worth mentioning that the 
Private Bankers have at all times led the 
way in the more important financial nego- 
tiations between the United States and 
foreign countries ; and the late Rebellion, 



120 COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

as well as the preceding War with Mexico 
were both greatly indebted to the skill of 
two men, whose names as bankers have 
passed into history, viz : William W. Cor- 
coran and Jay Cooke. Of the various 
financial institutions, perhaps the most use- 
ful and truly American in its character is 
that known as the Savings Bank, the pri- 
mary object of which is to keep in safety 
the savings of the poorer classes, for the 
use of which the bank pays a regular inter- 
est. Other banks make it their business 
to lend money for commercial purposes, but 
not so with the Savings Banks, which have 
more to do with real estate in making use 
of their funds. With regard to the circu- 
lating medium of the United States, we 
may remark that it is divided into paper 
money and specie. The former, which is 
also called currency is all issued directly 
from the National Treasury, in denomina- 
tions ranging from ten cents to one thou- 
sand dollars, and is a legal tender through- 
out the length and breadth of the land ; 




-....- ... 






vi'fm. -'rMn 



Vi 




COMMERCIAL LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 121 

while all the issues under one dollar are 
called fractional currency. The specie of 
the country is coined at a national mint, 
located in Philadelphia, and of course under 
the direction of the Treasury, and is com- 
posed of copper, silver and gold ; the copper, 
forming one and two cent pieces ; the sil- 
ver, five, ten, twenty-five and fifty cent 
pieces ; and the gold, one, three, five, ten, 
twenty, and fifty dollar pieces; to all of 
which may be added, what is called gold 
and silver bullion. While it is true that in 
all parts of the world money is considered 
a great power, there is. probably no country 
where the people are so universally imbued 
with the love of gain, or place so high an 
estimate on the possession of wealth, as is 
the case in the United States of America. 



PART FOURTH 



LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 



In no way, perhaps, can the magnitude 
of the Mechanical and Artisan interests of 
America be better realized, than by walk- 
ing through the spacious apartments of the 
Patent Office in Washington, where are to 
be found over one hundred thousand models 
of American skill and enterprise. Of these, 
about five thousand have been deposited 
within the last three years. It might also 
be mentioned that the cost of supporting 
the Patent Office and publishing its records, 
down to the present time, has been twelve 
millions of dollars ; that fifty thousand ap- 
plications for patents have been rejected ; 
and that no inventions, which are inopera- 
tive, frivolous or mischievous can ever be 
protected by the Government. 

Sixty years ago, the manufactures of the 



126 LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 

country were valued at $200,000,000 ; to- 
day, they are estimated at $3,000,000,000 ; 
while the people who are engaged in this 
enormous business are also counted by mil- 
lions. Their character is varied and inter- 
esting. All labor is respected, but this is 
especially true of skilled labor. The Amer- 
ican mechanics are partial to the higher 
grades of work, and this has a tendency to 
elevate them in society. They are ambi- 
tious to succeed, but often fail, because of 
their attempting too much. As employ- 
ers, they are faithful and punctual, and 
they who work as subordinates seldom 
have cause to complain. As fellow-labor- 
ers, they are not always considerate, but 
offences in that direction grow out of in- 
dividual dispositions. Their minds are not 
given to abstract thought, but they are 
fond of industrial organizations. In deal- 
ing with men and things, and in surmount- 
ing obstacles, they are wonderfully ingeni- 
ous ; and perhaps their chief intellectual 
distinction is that of inventors. • To use the 



LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 127 

language of another, their moral qualities 
are not striking but generally sound. They 
are a good-natured people, and treat stran- 
gers with kindness. Fairness and honesty 
prevail among them. Discipline is weak. 
They respect their institutions and deserve 
to be called a law-abiding people. Their 
homes are generally well-ordered, and their 
domestic virtues are above the average 
among European nations. They are fond 
of amusements, but perhaps too willing to 
break through the rules of a wise restraint. 
Different sections and pursuits, however, 
bring about different results ; and what is 
true of one neighborhood is not always true 
of another, and of course the inhabitants of 
the newly settled regions, are not generally 
as far advanced in culture as those located 
in the older cities and towns. A single 
brick or block of stone may give us a faint 
idea of the house to be built of that mate- 
rial, and in like manner, we may partially 
become acquainted with the manufacturing 
population, by considering a few of its lead- 



128 LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 

ing classes, who come under the head of 
mechanics or artisans. 

And, first, as to the very extensive num- 
ber of persons engaged in the production of 
flour and meal, — the millers of the country. 
They are to be found in every part, and 
the business of transforming the various 
cereals into flour is carried on by steam 
mills, as well as those propelled by water 
and wind power. The mills which are run 
by water power are the most numerous, and 
it is only in a few level districts that the 
old-fashioned wind-mill is in vogue. Many 
of the mills in question are of limited capac- 
ity, and only intended to grind the grain 
which is sent to them from the immediate 
vicinity ; but in various parts of the coun- 
try are located very extensive establish- 
ments which send their brands of flour to 
various quarters of the globe. In these 
larger mills, which run both day and night, 
and employ two sets of hands, they grind 
and turn out from three hundred to one 
thousand barrels of flour in each twenty- 



LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 129 

four hours. Wheat is always a cash article, 
and to carry on the business, a large capital 
is required. Besides the regular millers 
and their immediate assistants, these estab- 
lishments give employment to large num- 
bers of coopers, who manufacture the bar- 
rels that are used ; but within the past 
year, complaints have been made against 
these millers, that they were in the habit 
of using old barrels, which had been used 
for other purposes. This kind of dishones- 
ty, however, is not common, and will un- 
doubtedly be remedied. The weight of a 
barrel of flour is always one hundred and 
ninety-six pounds, and it is universally in- 
spected by a public officer before shipment 
from the place of its manufacture ; so that 
the several classes through whose hands 
each barrel of flour is obliged to pass, are 
the proprietors, the millers and their assist- 
ants, the coopers, the inspectors, and final- 
ly the book-keeping and shipping clerks. 
In the larger mills, moreover, regular mill- 
wrights are also permanently employed. 



130 LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 

Excepting agriculture, there is no branch 
of American industry which gives employ- 
ment to so many people as that of boot and 
shoe manufacturing. The New England 
States take the lead in this business, and 
Massachusetts is in advance of all the other 
individual States, the largest single estab- 
lishment in that State, giving employment 
to fourteen hundred persons, and paying 
out, in the way of wages, nearly one hun- 
dred thousand dollars per annum. And it 
is reported of one town, that it turned out 
in one year, boots and shoes enough to 
amount to five millions of dollars. The 
States of New York and Pennsylvania 
come next to New England, and it is esti- 
mated that the product of the whole United 
States is very much more than one hundred 
millions of dollars per annum; while the 
raw material in the way of leather, has 
reached a similar amount. The finer qual- 
ities of boots and shoes are usually made 
in the cities, and chiefly by Germans, and 
the more ordinary varieties in the country 



LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 131 

towns and villages. In some of these, al- 
most every house has attached to it a shop 
for making shoes, and all the members of 
the family, when not engaged in household 
affairs, or in cultivating a garden, take part 
in the manufacture. Within the last year, 
quite a colony of Chinese shoemakers have 
found employment in New England, and 
every inducement is given to encourage 
their coming in greater numbers. Where 
the sewing machine is employed, large num- 
bers of shoes are turned out by some fami- 
lies, which are paid for on being delivered 
to the local dealers, who ship them to the 
wholesale merchants in thecities, A large 
proportion of the shoes made, are fastened 
on the bottom by wooden pegs, thereby 
creating peg factories, in many of which 
shoe lasts are made, the combined business 
amounting to many hundred thousand dol- 
lars. About one- third of the people en- 
gaged in making shoes are women, and it 
is said that the aggregate amount now paid 

DO O O I 

to the shoemakers as wages is not far from 



132 LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 

fifty millions of dollars. With regard to 
the leather used in this enormous business, 
it is chiefly manufactured in the country, 
and its annual production reaches very 
nearly one hundred millions of dollars. 

The manufacture of Clothing for men, 
boys, women and children, has become a 
business of late years, of great magnitude. 
It is confined chiefly to the large cities, and 
gives direct employment to nearly one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand hands, the largest 
proportion of whom are women. Accord- 
ing to the latest published returns of the 
Census Office, they received in one year 
nearly twenty millions of dollars in wages, 
and produced merchandize which sold for 
about ninety millions of dollars. The gen- 
eral distribution of wealth in America ena- 
bles the people of all classes to be comfor- 
tably and respectably attired, and it is sel- 
dom that one class is compelled to wear the 
cast-oif clothing of another class. Out of 
this fact has grown the vast demand for 
ready-made clothing of moderate cost, which 



LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 133 

has developed into an immense and grow- 
ing trade, giving employment to multitudes 
of women in the larger cities, who would 
otherwise find it difficult to support them- 
selves in comfort. The cutters of common 
clothing are principally Americans, while 
the Germans and Irish are chiefly employed 
in the other branches of the business. The 
wages, both for men and women are larger 
than those paid in Europe. The American 
women are noted for their fondness for 
dress, and carry the custom of clothing 
their children to a preposterous extent; 
and hence the demand for fancy articles of 
dress is probably greater than in any other 
civilized country on the globe. And while 
that wonderful invention called the Sewing 
Machine has not only greatly increased the 
means of producing, it has at the same time 
created an increased demand for every vari- 
ety of clothing. 

Of the class of artisans who are engaged 
in the manufacture of machines, the num- 
ber is not far from fifty thousand. The 



134 LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 

machines made by them are well-nigh count- 
less in numbers and variety, ranging from 
Steam Engines and Locomotives down to 
Printing Presses and Sewing Machines. 
There is no country in the world where 
hydraulic machinery or water mills are so 
Abundant as in America, and its water 
power is practically unlimited. Taken as 
a whole, the machinists of the country are 
noted for their superior intelligence, and 
turn their attention more to what is useful 
than to what is ornamental. Among the 
articles which they produce of special im- 
portance may be mentioned clocks and 
watches, fire arms, cabinet furniture, cut- 
lery, and all sorts of implements and tools, 
musical instruments, including organs and 
piano fortes, carriages, soap and candles, 
bricks, tobacco in all shapes, with articles 
of unnumbered varieties made of iron, cop- 
per, brass, glass and wood. Within the 
bounds of the Republic may be found the 
raw material for almost every branch of 
manufacturing industry. The intellectual 



LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 135 

power and skill of the American mechanic 
may be partly appreciated by the fact that 
the manufactories of the country when last 
officially published, numbered one hundred 
and forty-one thousand, besides the machine 
shops of great value and capacity, yielding- 
products to the value of two thousand mil- 
lions of dollars. These immense results, 
which include the products of the cotton 
and wool manufactories, whilst measurably 
affected by the wealth of the soil, and its 
successful cultivation, are yet traceable to 
the artisan skill, energies and industry of 
the American people. It has been said that 
the manufacturing and mechanical capacities 
of the Northern States of America were the 
primary cause of their success in the late 
Rebellion, and that a more striking illustra- 
tion of the power and value of such resour- 
ces is not to be found in history. In look- 
ing over the official lists, w 7 e find that the 
mechanics and artisans of the United States 
might be arranged in classes which number 
about one hundred, and of course in a paper 



136 LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 

like the present, it is impossible to describe 
them with minuteness. 

But let us now take a glance at the sub- 
ject of compensation. Common laborers in 
America earn from one to two dollars per 
day, without board. The wages for skilled 
labor are considerably higher, but they can- 
not be precisely specified, because the work- 
men make their own contracts with their 
employers, the prices being regulated by 
ability, the season, and the nature of the 
business. By way of illustration however, 
we append the following selection, as about 
the rate of full monthly wages in vogue at 
the present time, viz : Bakers, fourteen dol- 
lars ; blacksmiths, ninety dollars ; Brick- 
layers, one hundred and twelve dollars ; 
book-binders, eighteen dollars ; butchers, 
twenty dollars ; cabinet makers, ninety dol- 
lars ; carpenters, one hundred and twelve 
dollars ; cigar makers, sixty dollars ; con- 
fectioners, forty dollars ; coopers, one hun- 
dred dollars ; engineers, ninety-two dollars ; 
machinists, ninety-two dollars ; masons, one 



LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 137 

hundred and twelve dollars ; millers, ninety- 
two dollars; painters, sixty dollars; print- 
ers, ninety-two dollars ; harness and sad- 
dle makers, sixty dollars ; shoemakers, 
sixty dollars ; tailors, eighty dollars ; stone 
cutters, one hundred and twelve dollars ; 
watchmakers, eighty dollars; wheelwrights, 
eighty-four dollars ; wagon makers, ninety- 
two dollars ; spinners and weavers, forty- 
eight dollars ; and wood carvers, eighty 
dollars. The above are only about one- 
fourth of the trades followed in America, 
but they are among the most important. 
Generally speaking the lowest wages are 
paid in the cities along the Atlantic sea- 
board, and they increase as the immigrant 
passes westward, reaching their highest 
point on the Pacific. 

We come now to speak of some of the 
incidental circumstances connected with that 
portion of the laboring population devoted 
to mechanical employments. The hours for 
beginning and ending a day's work, vary ac- 
cording to the seasons of the year. Hith- 



138 LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 

erto, it has been customary to labor ten 
hours, but this has generally been regulated 
by agreements between the employer and 
his hired men. Within the last two years, 
however, this business has been mixed up 
with politics, and Congress has been induced 
to pass a law limiting a day's labor to eight 
hours so far as the public service is con- 
cerned. Whether these regulations have 
resulted to the advantage of the employed 
or the employer is not yet settled. It is 
alleged that they have tended to make dis- 
cord in the more important establishments, 
causing the employers to lower the wages 
paid, and at the same time making the em- 
ployed restless and more disposed than for- 
merly to demand unreasonable terms. Look- 
ing at the mechanics of the United States 
in the aggregate, it may safely be said that 
they live in comfortable houses, have the 
best of plain food, husband their money 
with care, and are less addicted to intem- 
perance, than are certain classes who think 
themselves their superiors. They are not 



LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 139 

so driven in their employments, that they 
cannot enjoy a suitable amount of recreation, 
and their amusements or entertainments dif- 
fer according to their nationalities. If the 
Germans have their gardens, where they 
congregate at stated times to play games 
and drink beer ; the Irish have their festi- 
vals in honor of their patron saints, as well 
as their wakes or hilarious funerals ; while 
the native-born inhabitants amuse them- 
selves with pastimes peculiarly American, 
including pick-nicks, steamboat excursions 
and athletic games — but seldom omitting to 
read the daily papers, or have something to 
do with politics. While it is true that there 
may here and there be found artisans who 
have a hard struggle to get along comforta- 
bly, yet a large proportion, who are indus- 
trious and frugal succeed in laying up 
money and surrounding themselves with the 
elegancies of life. Indeed, in many parts 
of the country very marked changes are go- 
ing on among the people, and successful 
mechanics are pushing aside the older and 



140 LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 

more aristocratic families, and giving tone 
to society. If called upon to say from 
what sphere the largest number of moder- 
ately wealthy men have arisen, our obser- 
vation would incline us to answer, the me- 
chanical and artisan classes. There are 
men in all the larger cities, who were once 
engaged in the most ordinary employments, 
but who have amassed fortunes that are 
truly regal, and who are using their wealth, 
in helping the poor, building hospitals and 
founding institutions of learning, thereby 
proving that all the wisdom and benevolence 
are not possessed alone by the cultivated 
and intellectual classes. 

By way of illustrating the wonderful 
changes that have taken place, in mechani- 
cal employment, through the inventions of 
machinery, we may direct attention to the 
simple affair called a button. The first 
manufacturer in America, of these useful 
articles, was one Samuel Willis ton. He 
was a country merchant, and while selling 
buttons made of wood, he conceived the 



LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 141 

idea of covering them with cloth, and he 
invented a machine for that purpose, which 
was the first one invented in the United 
States. From this humble beginning, 
sprung up a factory, until this man was 
found to be making one-half of the buttons 
made in the whole world. Several factories 
which he established, are coining wealth 
for their proprietors and are known to the 
dealers in all climes. This man Williston, 
is now nearly eighty years of age and is 
worth about five millions of dollars ; he is 
also a very liberal man, and has endowed 
several institutions of learning with more 
than a million of dollars, one of them being 
Amherst College, where several Japanese 
students are at the present time receiving 
their education. 

The inventive talent of the Americans, is 
universally recognized, and its special power 
is derived from the existing facilities for 
education. Among these, the most impor- 
tant undoubtedly, are those afforded by the 
great mechanical exhibitions, which take 



142 LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 

place in some of the leading cities every 
year. One of them, which occurs in New 
York, has come to be considered as a 
national institution. The total number of 
laboring-men, women and children in the 
United States, has been estimated at thir- 
teen (13,000,000) millions; and it is said 
that the steam machinery of the country 
is equal to two (2,000,000) millions of 
horse power, or twenty-eight (28,000,000) 
millions of grown men ; so that while one- 
third of this work is done by laboring-men. 
two-thirds are performed by laboring ma- 
chines. According to the opinion of a lead- 
ing British Statesman — there are few coun- 
tries in which the working man is held in 
such repute as in the United States. The 
laboring classes may be said to embrace the 
entire American nation. American artisans 
prefer those occupations in which the exer- 
cise of brain is in greater demand than that 
of the elbow, and their chief ambition is 
to attain the positions of master workmen. 
Being educated, they perform- their duty 



LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 143 

with less supervision than is required, when 
dependence is to be placed upon uneducated 
hands. It rarely happens that a workman, 
who possesses superior skill in his craft, is 
disqualified to take the responsible position 
of superintendent by the want of education 
and general knowledge. The true mechanic 
toils at his trade under the conviction that 
manual labor, to be effective, must adapt 
itself almost wholly to the direction of 
science; and that under that direction un- 
skilled labor necessarily becomes skilled, 
and limited trusts enlarge into influential 
responsibility. 

As already intimated in this paper, the 
records of the Patent Office bear witness to 
the effects of general education in the de- 
velopment of mechanical ingenuity in the 
American people. No where in the world, 
has it been justly said, does it exist to the 
same extent ; and yet, in some of the most 
important departments of manufacture, the 
people are now nearly stationary, while in 
others they make but little progress. A few T 



144 LIFE AMONG THE MECHANICS. 

years ago, Germany sent to Massachusetts 
for machinery to manufacture woolen cloth ; 
but to-day there is scarcely any broadcloth 
made in any of the United States. Many 
of the most important improvements in the 
cotton manufacture are of American origin; 
and yet the amount of cotton wool now con- 
sumed, hardly exceeds that which was re- 
quired eight years ago. The same is true of 
various other articles of manufacture. In the 
last ten years the population has increased 
about nine millions ; and yet the number 
of persons engaged in many of the manu- 
facturing establishments is not now greater 
than it was then. The whole increase, 
therefore, is forced into agriculture and 
trade; and a new class of men, called "mid- 
dle men" — who neither produce, nor sell 
at their own risk — has sprung into exist- 
ence, whose influence upon the prosperity 
of the country is thought to be of doubtful 
character. 



PART FIFTH 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 



Under this head we propose to submit 
a general account of religion in the United 
States. 

There is no State Religion, and the Gov- 
ernment undertakes only to maintain order 
and administer justice to all, and they are 
entirely free to choose any kind of religion, 
save those which are contrary to its civil 
laws. Men associate themselves according 
to their preferences under separate organi- 
zations called churches. They all believe 
in one eternal and incomprehensible Deity, 
and in the immortality of the soul. All 
these churches have a book called the Bible. 
This book is believed to be a revelation 
from the Deity or God, and is divided into 
the Old and New Testaments, the former 
being called the Hebrew Scriptures, and 



148 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

the latter the Greek Scriptures. They 
claim that the Old Testament contains the 
most ancient writings known, and gives a 
history of the world and of man from the 
creation, and also prophesies the coming of 
Christ at a given time, which is fulfilled in 
the New Testament, wherein there is a his- 
tory of the birth and ministry, death and 
resurrection of Christ, contained in its prin- 
cipal portion called the Gospel, the mean- 
ing of which word is " good news," and is 
applied to the story of Christ. Christ is 
believed to have been " God manifest in 
the flesh," and all who believe in Him are 
called Christians. 

As specimens of each of these parts of 
the Bible we quote here some of its leading 
features. From the Old, the "Decalogue" 
containing the Ten Commandments or pre- 
cepts, written on two tables of stone, claimed 
to have been delivered by God to an in- 
spired man called Moses, at Mount Sinai, 
in Asia ; they will be found in the follow- 
ing words : 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 149 

"And God spake all these words saying, 
I am the Lord thy God which have brought 
thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the 
house of bondage. (1) Thou shalt have no 
other gods but me. (2) Thou shalt not make 
unto thee any graven image, or any likeness 
of anything that is in the heaven above or 
in the earth beneath, or that is in the water 
under the earth ; thou shalt not bow down 
thyself to them nor worship them ; for I 
the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visit- 
ing the iniquity of the fathers upon the 
children unto the third and fourth genera- 
tion of them that hate me, and shewing 
mercy unto them that love me and keep 
my commandments. 

(3) " Thou shalt not take the name of the 
Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not 
hold him guiltless that taketh His name in 
vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep 
it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do 
all thy work ; but the seventh day is the 
Sabbath of the Lord thy God ; in it, thou 
shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, 



150 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy 
maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stran- 
ger that is within thy gates ; 

(4) " For in six days the Lord made 
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in 
them is, and rested the seventh day : where- 
fore the Lord blessed the seventh day and 
hallowed it. 

(5) " Honor thy father and thy mother: 
that thy days may be long upon the land 
which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 

(6) " Thou shalt not kill. 

(7) " Thou shalt not commit adultery. 

(8) " Thou shalt not steal. 

(9) " Thou shalt not bear false witness 
against thy neighbor. 

(10) " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's 
house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's 
wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-ser- 
vant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything 
that is thy neighbor's." 

From the New Testament we quote a 
part of Christ's Sermon on the Mount, as 
follows : 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 151 

" Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs 
is the kingdom of heaven. 

" Blessed are they that mourn ; for they 
shall be comforted. 

" Blessed are the meek ; for they shall 
inherit the earth. 

" Blessed are the merciful ; for they shall 
obtain mercy. 

" Blessed are the pure in heart ; for they 
shall see God. 

" Blessed are the peace-makers ; for they 
shall be called the children of God. 

" Blessed are they which are persecuted 
for righteousness' sake ; for theirs is the 
kingdom of heaven. 

" Blessed are ye when men shall revile 
and persecute you and shall say all manner 
of evil against you falsely for my sake." 

After thus declaring who are blessed, he 
goes on to say who are the salt of the earth, 
the light of the world ; and that he came 
to fulfil the law ; what it is to kill, commit 
adultery, and to swear. He exhorts man 
to suffer wrong ; to love even his enemies ; 



152 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

to labor after perfectness ; to give alms ; 
teaches him how to pray, how to forgive, 
how to fast, where to lay up treasures, how 
to serve God, and not to serve mammon, 
not to be careful for worldly things, to seek 
God's kingdom. He reproves rash judg- 
ment, forbids to cast holy things to dogs. 
He warns them to beware of false prophets; 
to be doers of the word, and to be like 
houses built upon a rock. He then teaches 
the following prayer : 

" Our Father which art in Heaven, Hal- 
lowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, 
Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven; 
give us this day our daily bread ; and for- 
give us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, 
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver 
us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and 
the power and the glory, forever. Amen." 

In another place he says : " Thou shalt 
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
mind. This is the first and great command- 
ment, and the second is like unto-it: Thou 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 153 

shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On 
these two command meats hang all the law 
and the prophets." 

And still in another part of the Gospel 
we find this assertion: " Not every one 
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter 
into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that 
doeth the will of my Father which is in 
heaven." 

In view of the fact that Christ was cru- 
cified on a cross, and the same has ever 
been considered a symbol of suffering, we 
quote the following mandate : "And when 
he had called the people unto him with his 
disciples, also, he said unto them — Whoso- 
ever will come after me, let him deny him- 
self and take up his cross, and follow me. 
For whosoever, will save his life, shall lose 
it; but whosoever shall lose his life, for my 
sake, and the Gospel's, the same shall save 
it. For what shall it profit a man, if he 
shall gain the whole world and lose his own 
soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange 
for his soul? Whosoever, therefore, shall 



154 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

be ashamed of Hie and of my words in this 
adulterous and sinful generation, of him 
also, shall the Son of man be ashamed, 
when he cometh in the glory of his Father 
with the holy angels." 

What is called the " golden rule " is con- 
tained in the following words : " Therefore 
all things whatsoever ye would that men 
should do to you, do ye even so to them : 
for this is the law and the prophets." 

These specimens will show how the 
Christian religion accords with the Bible. 

Both the Old and New Testaments con- 
tain, as most of such books do, many won- 
derful and strange stories, hard to be com- 
prehended. The present writer deems it 
best not to allude here to any of them, as 
they appear to him to be of no grave im- 
portance, in regard to their' real religious 
essence. The increasing influence of the 
Bible is marvellously great, penetrating 
everywhere. It carries with it a tremend- 
ous power of freedom and justice, guided by 
a combined force of Wisdom and Goodness. 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 155 

Education, Industry and Benevolence are 
also other strong agents of the Bible Influ- 
ence. The believers in it have schools, and 
preaching, and missionary enterprises. For 
the care and help of all the unfortunate 
they have Institutions. These are of three 
general kinds : 

First. Schools for the masses, supported 
by the State, though this does not exclude 
schools supported by those directly partak- 
ing of the benefit. 

Second. Institutions of Mercy, Asylums 
for the Blind, the Deaf and Dumb ; and the 
Insane. These, because of the great ex- 
pense attending them are general and are 
supported by the State, while hospitals 
and infirmaries and lying-in establishments 
are denominational or belong to churches, 
and are supported by charitable contribu- 
tions. 

Third. Penal Institutions, which include 
houses of correction for young persons, jails 
and penitentiaries. All these being conduc- 
ted more* upon the principle of reforming 



156 EELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

the evil-doers than upon the principle of 
punishing them. 

Having now given a general outline of 
the system of religion, we will give a few 
particulars connected with the separate 
organizations. 

There are three great divisions of the 
Christian Church throughout the world, — 
Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Greek 
Church, — the latter being organized in the 
United States only to a limited extent. 

The name Protestant was first given 
in Germany to those who under the leader- 
ship of Martin Luther, an Augustine monk, 
protested against a decree of the Emperor 
Charles V, to support the doctrines of Rome. 
The Pope, Leo X, had granted indulgences 
for sins, on the payment of certain sums of 
money into the church treasury, and this was 
deemed wrong by Luther, who soon found- 
ed a religion in opposition to such teach- 
ings, and the name Protestant now compre- 
hends chiefly all those Christians, who are 
opposed to the Roman Catholic church. 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 157 

Numerous denominations or sects have 
since sprung up among the Protestants, and 
they may be named as follows : 

Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregation- 
alists, Baptists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, 
Moravians, Quakers, Dutch Reformed 
Church, Universalists, Unitarians, and a 
few others. The sacred volume or Bible, in 
which all these sects believe, although some 
of them interpret it differently from others, 
is chiefly printed and circulated by special 
Bible Societies, which, in connection with 
other Societies established in Europe, have 
issued the book or parts of it in one hundred 
and sixty-five different languages, and cir- 
culated it to the extent of one hundred and 
one millions of copies during the present 
century. With regard to the leading prin- 
ciples just mentioned, the great multitude 
of Protestants are agreed, but the sects, in 
their modes of worship, are somewhat differ- 
ent from each other, and must be mentioned 
separately. Of these, the most extensive 
class are the Methodists. 



158 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

This sect was founded in England and is 
known by the names of Methodist Episcopal 
and Methodist Connection. It receives its 
name Methodist from the fact that its mem- 
bers profess to be guided in their living by 
the methods laid down in the Bible, and 
the name of Episcopal marks that branch 
whose power is vested in bishops. They 
have arranged their doctrines of belief into 
twenty-five articles ; they recognize the 
two great sacraments of Baptism and the 
Lord's Supper, in common with all Protes- 
tants. They are ruled by what is termed 
a Conference, and their principal officers 
are called Bishops, Preachers, Deacons and 
Elders. Their churches are plain, and 
usually built without steeples or towers. 
Many of the Preachers spend their time in 
travelling from one part of the country to 
another as missionaries. 

They own an extensive book establish- 
ment, and annually give large sums of money 
for the support of missionaries in various 
parts of the world. In 1870, their Preachers 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 159 

numbered 19,170 ; regular members 2,623,- 
201 ; Colleges, 23 ; Academies and Semi- 
naries of learning, 85 ; while the total 
amount of their property was about seven 
millions of dollars. 

Presbyterians are governed by presbyte- 
ries or associations of Ministers and Rulino; 
Elders; several adjoining presbyteries meet 
under the name of Synod, and their General 
Assembly, which is their highest tribunal, is 
composed of delegates from each presbytery; 
this body meets annually and attends to 
the interests of their church throughout 
the country. Although known in various 
parts of Europe, this sect was introdujed 
into America from Scotland, where it is the 
Established Church. The doctrines which 
they profess are purely evangelical on all 
points. They give the name of bishop to 
each minister, and hold them equal in power; 
the meaning of the word bishop being over- 
seer. In 1870, the total number of minis- 
ters was 4,877; the churches, 5,342; and 
the members or communicants, 521,945. 



160 EELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

The amount contributed and expended for 
church and missionary operations was about 
$8,000,000. One of their customs is to 
nave protracted meetings, which continue for 
several days at a time, and often terminate 
in what are called revivals of religion, usu- 
ally bringing many new members into their 
congregations. 

Closely allied to the above is the sect 
called Congregationalists. It is the same 
as that known in England as the Indepen- 
dents, and they have been identified with 
America ever since 1620, when the Pilgrims 
first landed on the shores of New England. 
The essential peculiarity of this church is 
that it maintains the independence of each 
congregation. It is associated with Pres- 
byterians in missionary and publishing en- 
terprises ; its colleges are numerous and its 
chief strength lies within the New England 
States; its ministers number 3,043; church- 
es, 2,341 ; its members, 306,518; and in the 
last forty years it has expended for religi- 
ous purposes nearly six millions of dollars. 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 161 

Next to the Methodists, in point of num- 
bers, are the Baptists. They differ from 
all other sects in regard to the rite of Bap- 
tism; they not only exclude infants from 
the rite, but in case of all adults, insist upon 
immersion, or subjecting the entire body to 
the influence of water ; hence they have in 
most of their churches a large tank or basin, 
built behind their pulpits, in which the cere- 
mony is performed ; but in some parts of 
the country it is quite common to perform 
the rite in rivers or natural pools of water, 
and at such times, the congregated specta- 
tors help to make the scene impressive; the 
officiating pastor leads the person to be bap- 
tized into the water and dips the head un- 
der, while pronouncing the necessary form 
of words. * There is a loose dress worn on 
the occasion by the pastor and the person 
to be baptized. They do not use the title 
of Bishop, and they recognize no officials 
higher than Pastors and Deacons. One 
branch of this sect call themselves Close 
Communion Baptists, and will not allow 



162 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

members of other denominations to com- 
mune with them ; another branch are called 
Seventh Day Baptists, because they con- 
sider Saturday, — or the seventh day of the 
week, — the true Sabbath. Still another 
branch are called Free-Will Baptists, be- 
cause of their more liberal opinions. Ac- 
cording to the latest records the members 
of this church number 1,221,349 ; the 
churches, 15,143; and ministers, 8,784. 
They publish thirty-five periodicals ; and 
support twenty-five Colleges and fourteen 
Seminaries of learning. 

We now come to the Protestant Episcopal 
Church. It consists of thirty-nine confed- 
erated dioceses under the care of Bishops 
to whom their priests and deacons are sub- 
ordinate. Each bishop has charge of a dio- 
cese or circuit which is the extent of his 
jurisdiction and generally comprises one 
State. These representative bishops meet 
in a general convention, composed of the 
" House of Bishops," consisting of all the 
diocesan and missionary bishops, and of the 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 163 

" House of Clerical and Lay Deputies," 
consisting of four laymen from each diocese. 
This Convention meets triennially. Each 
diocese has its Annual Convention, com- 
posed of its Bishop and assistant Bishop, 
if there be one, and the priests, deacons 
and laity from each congregation, and all 
disputed questions are referred to the House 
of Bishops.' This sect has a written form 
of worship called a Liturgy, which is em- 
bodied in a book called the " Common 
Prayer ;" it is founded upon the one used 
by the Church of England, with such alter- 
ations as were deemed expedient upon its 
adoption in the United States. There have 
been several dissensions in this church grow- 
ing out of the use of this book, and these 
have caused the division of the sect into 
High and Low Church. They are the only 
Protestants, excepting the Dutch Reformed, 
who wear robes or gowns while performing 
their priestly office. This gown is of black 
silk, fitting loosely, and is worn while 
preaching and at funerals. A white gown 



164 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

is used for all other services, which is made 
of white muslin ; Bishops wear only the 
white gown. They have 52 bishops, and 
their priests and deacons number 2,786 ; 
their parishes, 2,605 ; and members or com- 
municants about two hundred and twenty 
thousand. 

The denomination known as Lutherans, 
claims to be more especially Protestant 
than any other, and takes its name from 
Martin Luther, although that celebrated 
reformer was opposed to its use in that con- 
nection. Another name for this church is 
that of the United Evangelical Church. 
They believe in the actual salvation of in- 
fants, dying unbaptized. 

In other respects the Lutherans substan- 
tially agree with all the denominations 
hitherto mentioned. It has long been an 
influential body in America; its ministers 
number 1,933; its churches, 3,417; and 
members, 387,746. Closely allied to the 
sects alreadv mentioned are those known as 
the Dutch Reformers and the Moravians. 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 165 

The first of these has its seat of power in 
New York; its ministers number 974 and 
its members, 175,091. The Moravians, 
though not numerous, have also been noted 
for their devotion to missionary labor, 
especially in the northern parts of North 
America. 

All the denominations described above, 
are commonly styled as Orthodox or Evan- 
gelical. The following are those which in 
some degree are in opposition to the others 
in both faith and principle. They are re- 
garded very liberal and broad in their views. 

The sect known as Universalists, claim 
that their doctrines were preached in the 
United States, as far back as one hundred 
years ago. They reject the doctrine of the 
Trinity, giving to Christ the second place 
and making him subordinate to the Father ; 
and while declaring that God is infinite, 
they believe in the final destruction of evil 
and the restoration of all human souls 
through Jesus Christ. They do not believe 
that any of the human race will be finally 



166 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

lost. Their government is representative 
and ecclesiastical; and they have 1279 
societies, 998 churches and 724 preachers ; 
publish about twenty periodicals, and hold 
property to the value of about eight hun- 
dred thousand dollars. 

And next come the Unitarians. They 
oppose the doctrine of the Trinity, which is 
held by the great majority of Protestants, and 
believe in the absolute unity of God. They 
do not reject the existence of Christ, but 
believe him to have been only a man. The 
manner of their worship is simple, and each 
church manages its own affairs separately. 
This sect originated in the United States in 
1825, and is more popular in Massachusetts 
than in any other State of the Union. The 
number of societies, which they support, is 
334, and they have 396 ministers, a large 
proportion of whom are not permanently 
settled. They support two Theological 
Seminaries ; seven or eight periodicals ; 
and fifteen charitable Institutions. The 
population connected with this' denomina- 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 167 

tion is variously estimated at from fifteen 
to thirty thousand. Within the last few 
years they have accepted the co-operation 
of the Universalists in their efforts to do 
good ; and they have made the following 
agreement : 

" Reaffirming our allegiance to the Gos- 
.pel of Jesus Christ, and to secure the largest 
unity of the spirit and the widest practical 
co-operation, we invite to our fellowship all 
who wish to be followers of Christ." 

Having now given a general description 
of the various Protestant denominations, it 
is proper that we should be a little more 
explicit in regard to the sacraments of the 
Evangelicals. They admit as essential to 
membership only two sacraments, which are 
considered of Divine Institution. These 
are the rite of Baptism, and the Lord's 
Supper, called the Communion. Baptism 
is a representation or seal of the new cove- 
nant, and is the appointed ordinance for 
their introduction into the church, and is a 
sign of profession, whereby the promises 



168 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

of remission of sins and adoption into the 
family of Christians, are said to be visibly 
sealed by the Holy Ghost. All the denom- 
inations mentioned above, excepting the 
Baptists, believe in the efficacy of infant 
Baptism, and that it has an influence on all 
the periods of life, and all administer the 
rite, by sprinkling with water the face of 
the child or adult believer, and sometimes, 
as in the Episcopal church, making the sign 
of the cross on the forehead, while the 
minister pronounces the words, " I baptize 
thee in the name of the Father and the Son 
and the Holy Ghost," showing by these 
words that the person baptized, or the per- 
son bringing the child, believes in the 
Trinity, or Triune God, the Father as Crea- 
tor, the Son as Redeemer, and the Holy 
Ghost as Comforter. The water is used as 
an emblem of purity, and it is not generally 
supposed that tne outward sign will profit 
those who live and die without the inward 
grace, but is to be an adoption into the 
family of God, by being consecrated to his 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 169 

service, and is a safeguard from evil, so far 
as the remembrance of this consecration has 
its influence. Baptism therefore, is sup- 
posed to commemorate the fact that Jesus 
Christ revealed God to be the Father, him- 
self the Son, and the Spirit the Holy Ghost, 
or three persons in the one Godhead, all of 
which are acknowledged by them, to exist 
as a mystery, understood by God alone. 

The Holy Communion, or Sacrament of 
the Lord's Supper, commemorates the fact 
that Jesus Christ lived and died, and it de- 
rived its institution from the fact that on 
the evening before his death, he had a sup- 
per, commonly called the Last Supper, and 
he gave bread and wine to his disciples, 
saying " Take and eat this bread in remem- 
brance of me, and as often as ye drink this 
cup ye do show forth the Lord's death un- 
til He come." These words are found re- 
corded in their Bible and are believed by 
all Protestants ; so that this Sacrament is 
revered by all who believe in Christ's sac- 
rifice on the cross to atone for the sins of 



170 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

the whole world. The Episcopalian and 
the Methodist form of partaking of the 
Lord's Supper is by kneeling around the 
chancel in front of the pulpit, while the 
minister passes before them, first with the 
bread, which he gives to each one saying : 
" The body of our Lord Jesus Christ which 
was given for thee, preserve thy body and 
soul unto everlasting life. Take and eat 
this in remembrance that Christ died for 
thee and feed on him in thy heart by faith, 
with thanksgiving." lie then gives the cup 
to each one saying, " The blood of our 
Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for thee, 
preserve th}^ body and soul unto everlast- 
ing life. Drink this in remembrance that 
Christ's blood was shed for thee, and be 
thankful." 

Right here we may pause for a moment 
to look at a passage in the New Testament, 
wherein Christ declares himself to be the 
bread of life to all believers, and addressing 
himself to the doubting Jews : — "Then Je- 
sus said unto them, ' Verily, verily I say 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 171 

unto 3^011, except ye eat the flesh of the 
Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have 
no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and 
drinketh my blood, hath eternal life ; and 
I will raise him up at the last day. For 
my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is 
drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, 
and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, 
and I in him. As the living Father hath 
sent me, and I live by the Father ; so he 
that eateth me, even he shall live. This is 
that bread which came down from heaven ; 
not as your fathers did eat manna, and are 
dead ; he that eateth of this bread shall 
live forever.' " 

The Presbyterians partake of the Sacra- 
ment sitting either around a table, which is 
placed in some churches, or in the pews of 
the church ; the bread and wine being hand- 
ed to them by the Elders of the church; 
the minister at the same time repeating 
words nearly allied to those used by Christ 
at the Last Supper. The Congregational- 
ists and Baptists use nearly the same forms. 



272 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

The next rite of importance is that of 
marriage. It is considered by all Christians 
to have been ordained by God, and there- 
fore, it is a holy rite, not to be engaged in 
without the sanction of the proper authori- 
ties, which make the tie binding and law- 
ful. The ceremony, after a license has 
been granted, is performed either in the 
church or at the home of the bride, al- 
ways by a clergyman, if one can be pro- 
cured, but in some cases of emergency it 
can be solemnized or performed by a Jus- 
tice of the Peace. The Episcopalians have 
a written form contained in their Prayer 
Book, and the other denominations use also 
a set form of words, although every one in 
conclusion makes use of the Bible text : 
" Those whom God hath joined together, 
let no man put asunder," which was the 
injunction used by Christ at the institution 
of the ordinance. 

The burial service for the dead is also a 
written form with the Episcopalians and 
Methodists, and is generally performed at 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 173 

the house of the deceased, but members of 
the church are frequently buried from the 
church, where the body is carried, for the 
purpose of having the burial service per- 
formed. It is then borne out of the church 
by persons selected by the family, called 
pall-bearers, and followed by the relatives 
and friends to the grave, which has been 
previously prepared, and is there committed 
to the earth by the clergyman, lowered into 
the grave by the pall-bearers, and the earth 
thrown upon the coffin, and the grave is 
then closed. 

But there are some other religious classes 
that must be mentioned, who are noted for 
their peculiarities. 

The sect called Quakers or Friends was 
founded in England by a man named George 
Fox, and the recognized head in the United 
States was William Penn. The epithet 
Quaker was given to them because they of- 
ten trembled under an awful sense of the 
infinite purity and majesty of God. While 
professing to be guided by the Protestant 



174 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

Bible, they have the following peculiarities : 
They are very plain in their manner of 
dress, and in their church buildings ; have 
no special reverence for the Christian Sab- 
bath ; speak in public assemblies only when 
prompted by the Spirit; and they allow 
women to speak at their meetings. They 
are to some extent Unitarians in belief, have 
always been opposed to slavery, and also 
to war, and never participate in military 
affairs ; and in consequence of a division 
that once took place among them, a portion 
of them followed the lead of a man named 
Elias Hicks, and became known as Hicks- 
ites. The city of Philadelphia was founded 
by them, and Pennsylvania and New York 
have been their principal fields of lalbor. Of 
late years, they have increased in numbers 
in the Western States of the Union, and 
the sect now claims about one hundred and 
thirty-five thousand members, while they 
have four colleges, and quite a number of 
lar«;e boarding schools. 

The people called Shakers originated in 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 175 

England about one hundred years ago, but 
are now confined to the United States. 
The order was founded by two women 
named Ann Lee and Jane Wardley, the 
former having professed to receive divine 
light directly from heaven. They believe 
that God is dual, there being an eternal 
Father and Mother in the Deity ; and the 
same of Christ. They are ascetics ; live 
in secluded communities; take no part in 
earthly governments, and are virtually op- 
posed to the marriage relation. They look 
upon idleness as sin, and are noted for their 
neatness and plainness of dress. There are 
twelve societies or settlements of them in 
the United States, and they have not in- 
creased in numbers in the last fifty years, 
their total number being less than two thou- 
sand. They are famous for their knowledge 
of gardening, and in their principal commu- 
nity called Mount Lebanon in New York, 
which they own in common, they carry on 
an extensive business in the way of selling 
seeds and certain articles of domestic manu- 



176 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

facture, often yielding an annual income of 
fifty thousand dollars. In their religious 
services they frequently resort to dancing, 
and they believe that their members have 
the power of healing diseases by means of 
prayer and abstinence from food. 

Another class of religionists are called 
the New Jerusalem Church and was origna- 
ted by Emanuel Swedenborg of Sweden, 
whose name it sometimes bears ; its doc- 
trines are founded upon the Bible, but are 
considered by Protestants as very symbol- 
ical. Its followers in America are not num- 
erous, but generally cultured people. An- 
other sect is known as Mormon, whose 
founder was Joseph Smith, and whose dis- 
ciples have built up a city in Utah ; they 
are the advocates of poligamy, which they 
practice to a large extent, and Brigham 
Young is the name of their present leader, 
but who, within a short time, has been pros- 
ecuted by the General Government as an 
offender against the criminal laws of the 
country. 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 177 

Next come the Millerites or Second Ad- 
ventists, founded by one William Miller, 
who preached that the world was to be de- 
stroyed on a particular day, when his disci- 
ples dressed themselves in white robes and 
waited for the great event in open fields ; 
and although the predictions of this pretend- 
ed prophet were not fulfilled, the sect still 
survives to a small extent. And then there 
are the Tunkers or Harmless People, who 
profess to be animated in their religion by 
fraternal love ; the Spiritualists, so-called, 
who boast that they are infidels and here- 
tics ; the Perfectionists, who advocate a 
new and perfect way of Society ; the Social- 
ists, the Fourierites, the Trappists, who be- 
lieve in a " community of goods," and final- 
ly the Female Seers, who claim that women 
are superior to men, and that some of their 
sect have been ordained to be prophetesses 
and seers. 

The Roman Catholic church comprises 

that society of Christians whose members 

«/ 

acknowledge the Pope as the visible head 



178 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

of the church. Its followers claim it to be 
co-eval with the commencement of the 
Christian Era, although it does not appear 
to have been fully organized, until the fourth 
century. The Pope is also called a sover- 
eign pontiff, and the word pontificate is used 
to denote the reign of a Pope. He resides 
in Rome, and bis power extends over all 
his followers, wherever they may exist, and 
all the churches of this sect in the world 
are under his supervision. All rules for 
government and discipline emanate from 
him and he is supposed by them to be the 
present representative of St. Peter, one of 
Christ's Apostles, from whom the popes 
have in a successive line proceeded ; thus 
founding their belief in Apostolical succession. 
After the Pope, the next in order of rank 
or power, is the Archbishop who presides 
over the bishops of the dioceses over which 
he has jurisdiction ; then follow the Bish- 
ops, Priests, Deacons, and Sub-Deacons, , 
with similar powers to those mentioned in 
the Episcopal Church. 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 179 

But that which chiefly distinguishes Ro- 
man Catholics from Protestants, is their be- 
lief in the Virgin Mary as an intercessor 
between God and man, and also in the in- 
tercession of the Saints or the good persons 
who have died and are supposed to be in the 
enjoyment of heaven. These, they think, 
can hear and transmit the prayers of the 
faithful on earth, to Christ, and that the 
prayers of the Virgin Mary are especially 
efficacious with her son Jesus Christ. They 
believe in the use of images and relics of 
Saints and the Virgin, and generally wear 
these and the crucifix, or image of Christ, 
about their person as a supposed safeguard 
from evil, and as reminders of their depen- 
dence upon these persons for salvation. 

Roman Catholics also believe in the 
prayers of the church for the dead, and 
what is called High Mass is said in the 
church, after death. These prayers are 
said for the dead, believing that there is a 
middle state, called Purgatory, between 
Heaven and Hell, into which persons pass 



180 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

for purification before entering Heaven, and 
therefore that the prayers of the church, 
and good people, wUl avail to get them 
from the transition state into Heaven. 
Their chief reliance for salvation is in the 
blood of Christ, but they believe that their 
good works of prayer, fasting and almsgiv- 
ing are meritorious. They believe in the 
saving grace of baptism, and that after the 
form has been used, the person is regene- 
rate, and delivered from all sin ; besides the 
use of water, they anoint with oil and use 
salt, and the rite is performed somewhat 
after the following manner : The priest 
blows three times upon the face of the 
person, saying, " Depart out of him, 
Unclean Spirit, and give place to the Holy 
Spirit, the Comforter;" he then makes a 
sign of the cross on the forehead and breast, 
and a grain of salt is put into the mouth of 
the person, and he is admonished to keep 
the soul from the corruption of sin. Oil is 
used to anoint the breast and between the 
shoulders, and water is then poured upon 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 181 

the head three times in the form of the 
cross — saying, " I baptize thee in the name 
of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost;" then a white linen cloth is put 
upon the head, and a lighted candle 
is placed in the hand, the priest saying, 
" Keep the light of faith ever burning by 
the oil of good works." He finally pro- 
nounces the blessing: " Go in peace; the 
Lord be with thee." 

They believe in the sacraments of confir- 
mation, marriage, penance, extreme unction, 
and holy orders, but that of the Lord's 
Supper, or Eucharist, as they call it, and 
Baptism, are the only ones held in common 
with Protestants, and we will only give 
these to show how they differ from that 
body of Christians. They believe in the 
Heal Presence of the body and blood of 
Christ in the Lord's Supper; or that the 
bread and wine are changed by the conse- 
cration of the priest into the real body and 
blood of Christ; this they term Transubstan- 
tiation, or the change of the substance from 



182 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

bread and wine into flesh and blood. In 
performing this sacrament the priest blesses 
the bread, or wafer, as they call it, and then 
the people go up to the rail before the altar 
and kneel down, holding a towel, or white 
cloth, before their breasts so that if a particle 
of the bread should fall it may be received 
into the towel and not fall to the ground. 
Then the priest distributes it to them, 
making the sign of the cross with the con- 
secrated bread upon each one, saying, "The 
body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy 
soul unto everlasting life." They do not 
give the cup to the people, but the priest 
takes all the wine, believing that after con- 
secration, the whole body, and blood and 
divinity is substantially contained in the 
wafer or in the wine, and that it is not nec- 
essary to give both, and the bread is distrib- 
uted instead of the wine, as there is danger 
of spilling the blood of Christ if all receive 
the cup. 

Their church service is called the mass, 
and it is in the form of a liturgy -or manual. 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 183 

It is read in Latin, that being the original 
language in which it was written, and the 
translation accompanies each part, and is 
thus comprehended by those who can read, 
while the ignorant accept the form and hear 
it in a devout manner, believing in the 
power of the priest to present it to God 
for them, although they may not under- 
stand the words. Their faith in the priest- 
hood is extreme, and they have frequent 
access to them for spiritual advice, the spe- 
cial guide of each individual is the priest, 
who presides over the congregation of which 
he is a member, and according to his dicta- 
tion are performed outward acts of contri- 
tion, satisfaction and confession, called pen- 
ances, by which those sins into which they 
may have fallen after baptism can be remit- 
ted ; some of these penances are very se- 
vere, sometimes requiring much bodily suf- 
fering and great sacrifices of time and pleas- 
ure, and often much fasting before absolu- 
tion is given by the priest. They have 
what is called the confessional, and the 



184 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

apartments devoted to this purpose are 
small closets or curtained places in the 
church or chapel wherein the priest stands, 
outside of which the person who confesses 
kneels with head covered, and repeats his 
sins and receives the admonitions of the 
priest; it is not necessary that the individ- 
ual be known personally to the priest; all 
that the priest is required to do, is to hear 
and absolve as he may deem proper. This 
constitutes one great hold which the priest- 
hood have upon the people, and they are will- 
ing to accept from them all advice upon mat- 
ters of conscience. The priests wear robes 
and vestments while officiating in the church, 
and these are sometimes very elaborately 
embroidered and enriched by lace and other 
materials. This sect denounces as heretics 
all who do not believe in their teachings, 
and they believe that none can be saved 
outside of their church, excepting by a spe- 
cial providence of God in cases of ignorance 
of their doctrines. 

The Bible is interpreted by their priests 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 185 

for the people, and Roman Catholics are 
said to be opposed to the Free Schools of 
America, because the Bible is permitted to 
be read and taught in these schools. They 
exclude it from their own schools, as a 
whole, believing it to be wrong to place it 
in the hands of those who may be led to 
interpret it for themselves. That portion 
of it which they allow fcr general use con- 
tains only the New Testament, the Old 
Testament being given in the form of a Bible 
History which has been compiled for this 
purpose. This question has caused a great 
deal of discussion in the political world, as 
Free Schools are a government institution, 
and it has influenced many political elections 
throughout the country, when it has been 
made a test question, whether the candidate 
under consideration would vote for or against 
Free Schools. This plan of interpreting 
the Bible is another bond of Union for Ro- 
manists, all being made to adopt the inter- 
pretation of this church before becoming a 
member of the same ; while Protestants 



186 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

differ and are divided into sects just as men 
will naturally differ on air^ subject they 
are allowed to discuss freely. While the 
Roman Catholics are all united under one 
head, there is however a secret society 
among them known as Jesuits, whose spe- 
cial object is for its propagation. It was 
this Society, as our readers will remember, 
who established themselves in Japan in 
1549, but who were destroyed or driven 
from the Empire in 1595. This sect had 
in 1870 seven archbishops; forty-five bish- 
ops; seven vicars-apostolic; thirty -five hun- 
dred and five priests, and according to 
the best authorities, three millions, three 
hundred and fifty-four thousand members. 

The most devoted people in this denom- 
ination think it incumbent upon them to 
make certain sacrifices of time and service, 
and voluntarily go into entire seclusion 
from the world. For this object they have 
institutions called Nunneries, to which the 
women retire and take certain vows, and 
live within their enclosures during the re- 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 187 

mainder of their lives ; of course, these 
women never marry. There are also Mon- 
asteries where the men retire from the 
world and also take the vow of celibacy, 
which means never to marry ; they devote 
themselves, generally, to teaching young 
men, and there is a college for that purpose 
connected with most of these institutions ; 
as there are also female academies connect- 
ed with the Nunneries. 

Another class of religious people who 
occupy a position peculiar to themselves, 
are the Jews or Israelites, whose history is 
identified with ancient and modern times, 
and more replete with incidents than any 
other. Although unable to give the extent 
of their population in America, we may 
safely state that they are to be found in 
almost every city and town in the country, 
and they claim to have about two hundred 
congregations. Though standing alone in 
their religious beliefs, they have the credit 
of manifesting great energy in prosecuting 
works of charity in behalf of the sick, the 



188 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

needy and the widows and orphans of their 
own people. A large proportion of them 
are wedded to the doctrines of their illus- 
trious father, the patriarch Abraham, with 
whom the recognition of one Supreme Being 
originated, and has been cherished to the 
present day by Bible believers. A party 
has sprung up among them, of late years, 
called the Reformed or Christian Jews, and 
they advocate a religion of progress, in which 
they have been somewhat successful. They 
never intermarry with people not of their 
own race, and from time immemorial have 
been noted for their sagacity in accumulat- 
ing money. Their history, which occupies 
a large space in the Bible, is considered the 
most wonderful in the annals of religion 
throughout the world. 

Of all the rites or ceremonies which are 
practiced by the Jews, the most strict and 
solemn is that which annually occurs on 
what they call the Day of Atonement. It 
is marked by a rigid fast, which commences 
at sunset on one evening, and ends with 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 189 

sunset on the following day, during which 
time the more faithful of the sect will not 
permit a morsel of food or water to pass 
their lips. During all this period they offer 
up prayers, clad in such garments as are 
used in burying the dead ; and until the 
close of this special season for religious 
worship their synagogues are crowded with 
worshippers, who, like the Quakers, inva- 
riably wear their hats in all public assem- 
blies. 

In looking at the people of the United 
States in the aggregate, it has been esti- 
mated that about seven-eighths of them are 
either allied to the Protestants — have no 
religion at all, or come under the head of 
miscellaneous sects, while the remainder 
are Roman Catholics. Nearly all the de- 
nominations are amply supplied with theo- 
logical institutions, which number more 
than one hundred, and those who are edu- 
cated in them are always expected to be- 
come the advocates of the doctrines in 
which they have been instructed. As to 



190 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

the benevolent institutions for the relief of 
suffering humanity, they are to be found in 
nearly all the individual States, and are 
chiefly supported by the Protestant sects 
or by the people through their legislatures. 
In their internal arrangements all these 
asylums and hospitals are in keeping with 
the advanced improvements of the age. By 
means of raised letters the blind are ena- 
bled to read ; by wise treatment the insane 
.are made docile, and contented with their 
unhappy condition ; and by personal kind- 
ness and sign-alphabets the deaf and the 
dumb are instructed and made to forget 
their misfortunes. The total number of 
these unfortunates in the United States is 
nearly one hundred thousand. 

To give an account of the hospitals the 
homes for the orphan and widow and other 
charitable institutions of the country, would 
occupy more space than can be afforded in 
this work, but we can state that they are 
very numerous, liberally endowed and as 
efficiently conducted as any in the world ; 



RELIGIOUS LIEE AND INSTITUTIONS. 191 

and when necessary, people from every 
clime can find a convenient place where 
they may be cared for, whether their trou- 
bles are the result of poverty, of accidents, 
of sickness or any other misfortunes. 

Of all the visible evidences of prosperity 
among the religious people of America, the 
most impressive and extensive, are the 
Churches or Temples of Christian worship. 
Not only are they to be found on almost 
every street in the larger cities, but they 
are the leading architectural attractions in 
the towns and villages of the whole country. 
Bricks and every variety of stone are em- 
ployed in their construction ; every school 
of architecture is called upon to beautify 
them with their designs ; and the money 
expended in building them, ranges from ten 
or twenty thousand, to one or two millions 
of dollars. The current expenses of these 
churches are paid by voluntary subscrip- 
tions, or with the money received through 
the renting or sale of pews or seats. 

The ministers who preside over these 



192 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

churches, excepting the Roman Catholics, 
who are supported in a different manner, 
receive by way of compensation from five 
hundred to ten thousand dollars, according 
to the wealth of the congregations. These 
churches are open for public worship twice 
on every Sunday, and occasionally on week 
days ; are never used for mere secular pur- 
poses; and in many of them, elaborate 
music, consisting of singing combined with 
magnificent organs, forms an important part 
of the services. It is from these churches, 
moreover, that the money goes forth for 
the support of charitable and benevolent 
institutions, and for spreading the religion 
of the Bible, by means of missionaries, 
throughout the world. There is also at- 
tached to most of these congregations what 
are called Sunday Schools in which children, 
both rich and poor, are instructed in the 
ways of Christianity. While it is true, as 
we have already stated, that there is no 
State religion in America, it is also true, 
however, that the religious denominations 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 193 

of the country, occasionally exercise a de- 
cided influence in public affairs ; and when 
a man of mark puts himself forward as a 
candidate for an elective office, his chances 
of success very frequently turn upon the 
nature of his religious belief, and hence, we 
find a perpetual warfare going on in America, 
between the Protestants and Roman Catho- 
lics, which is anything but creditable to the 
parties, an honor to the country, or a bless- 
ing to the world. 

Although only indirectly connected with 
the foregoing subject we deem it quite 
proper to append in this place a few words 
in regard to the noted Secret Societies 
known as Free Masons and Odd-Fellows. 
The first, which is identified with the his- 
tory of architecture, is claimed to have orig- 
inated in the religious mysteries of the an- 
cient world — and especially in Asia Minor. 
Members of the fraternity are found in every 
quarter of the globe, but it is perhaps more 
flourishing in the United States than else- 
where. They have what they call a Grand 



194 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

Lodge in all the States of the Union, and 
many of the most distinguished men in this 
country have been members of the Order. 
Their highest officer is called a Royal Arch 
Mason ; in the exercise of charity, particu- 
larly towards their fellow-members, they 
are eminently liberal; and their houses, 
which are called temples, are numerous and 
often very handsome ; and their publications 
are highly respectable, if not abundant. 

The fraternity known as Odd-Fellows, 
bears a general resemblance to the Free Ma- 
sons, traces its origin to the fourth Century, 
and has until recently been confined to Great 
Britain and the United States, in which 
latter country it is exceedingly prosperous. 
Like the Free Masons, they have their 
Lodges and many officers, and it is said that 
in the last forty years they have expended 
for charitable purposes not less than fifteen 
millions of dollars. The relief furnished to 
its members during sickness, and to their 
families after death, is accorded to them 
as a right. Connected with this Order is an 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 195 

institution which they call the Grand En- 
campment, whose members are known as 
patriarchs and priests, and which consists 
of past officers of the several subordinate 
Encampments. The State Grand Lodges 
consist of the past officers of the subordi- 
nate Lodges ; and the Grand Lodge of the 
United States, which is the highest body 
of the Order in this country, is formed of 
Representatives elected by the several State 
Grand Lodges. Some years ago, by the 
action of the present Vice-President of the 
United States, Schuyler Colfax, (who is a 
distinguished member of this Order,) women 
were admitted to a partial fellowship in it; 
and since then, at stated periods, the differ- 
ent subordinate Lodges confer upon such 
wives and widows of Odd-Fellows who may 
desire it, what is termed the " Degree of 
Rebecca." 

But there is one feature connected with 
religion in America, which is peculiar to 
this country, and must not be forgotten in 
this summary. We allude to the Young 



196 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

Mens Christian Associations. There are 
one thousand of these Societies in the United 
States, and they are conducted by an active 
element in the various churches, and with- 
out any denominational distinctions. They 
are supported by the free-will contributions, 
on the part of their members, and their 
buildings in the larger cities, are frequently 
quite splendid and beautiful. They are 
generally so arranged as to afford under 
one roof, a library of the best books, a Read- 
ing Room supplied with the leading news- 
papers and periodicals of the day, a General 
Receiving Room, where religious services 
are held for those who wish to attend them, 
and a Lecture Room, where able men are 
invited to lecture. To all of these privileges 
excepting the Lectures, the public are ad- 
mitted without any charge, and the good 
which these associations have already ac- 
complished in elevating the tone of Society, 
is considered in the light of a national bless- 
ing. 

It is proper, before concluding this chap- 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 197 

ter, that the writer should submit a few par- 
ticulars respecting its arrangement, which 
are somewhat personal to himself. Af- 
ter his return to Japan from Europe, some 
years ago, he was frequently questioned 
by his countrymen as to his opinions about 
the Christian Religion. In his replies, he 
took the ground, that, so far as he could 
understand it, the Bible was a good and a 
wise book, but that it contained many things 
he did not understand. That while the peo- 
ple, who called themselves Christians claim- 
ed to have the only true religion and pre- 
tended to be better than all other men, they 
did not, in that particular, differ from the 
Chinese or Japanese, who assert the same 
claims for their religions. He thought it 
advisable that those who desire to form any 
opinion on Christianity, should acquaint 
themselves with it by close and attentive 
study, and then to judge for themselves. 
Hence, in the present chapter his desire has 
been simply to give facts, and in the plain- 
est possible terms. Whatever may be his 



198 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

private opinions, on matters of such great 
importance, he has not thought it proper 
for him either to oppose or advocate them. 
According to his observations, a very large 
proportion of the American people are known 
by the name of Christians, and yet a great 
many things are said and done by them, 
which do not accord with the principles of 
their own Bible ; but, is not this true of 
every nation upon the earth ? Where men 
think that they know everything, and boast 
of their superior wisdom, the presumption 
is that they have yet much to learn ; 
and all human experience as well as the 
Bible of the Christians, inculcate the idea 
that before men can be wise and good, they 
must be humble. It would be a very won- 
derful thing, should the time ever arrive, 
when the so-called Christians, who profess 
the faith, but do not live up to it, shall cease 
to boast of the superiority of their religion, 
and regard themselves as worse than all 
other people, because of their guilt in mak- 
ing insincere professions. True Chris- 



RELIGIOUS LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 199 

tianity may not be considered as identical 
with the general sense of civilization — in 
which the good and the bad participate, — 
but true philosophy would seem to teach 
that it should be a leading element in such 
civilization. 



PART SIXTH 



LIFE IN THE FACTORIES 



The term factory, as employed in Amer- 
ica, means a place where men and women 
are engaged in fabricating goods. In this 
paper, it is proposed to speak of those es- 
tablishments, especially, where the staples 
of cotton and wool are turned into the 
woven fabrics, commonly known as calicos, 
sheetings, carpetings, cloths made of both 
materials, as well as hosiery and worsted 
goods, blankets, shawls, table covers, felted 
cloths and bedspreads. 

The largest amount of cotton ever pro- 
duced in this country, in one year, was in 
1860, the year before the late Rebellion, 
when the figures reached 4,669,770 bales, 
each bale weighing 465 pounds ; and the 
factories numbered 1091. According to 
the last published statistics, the supply of 



204 LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 

cotton reached only 2,500,000 bales ; the 
number of cotton mills or factories is 831, of 
which 444 are in New England ; 86 in the 
Southern States ; 220 in the Middle States, 
and the balance in the Western States. 
The total value of the cotton crop was 
$270,000,000, and it is said that the people 
producing it, sold and exported the whole 
of it, excepting the value of $10,000,000 
kept for home consumption. 

But, however we may arrange the cot- 
ton statistics of America, the fact remains 
that its cotton manufactures, though still 
very large, have declined of late years, and 
are greatly excelled by those of England. 

The annual production of wool in the 
United States is estimated at about one 
hundred millions of dollars, while that of 
Great Britain in 1868, was in pounds 260,- 
000,000; Germany, 200,000,000; France, 
123,000,000; Russia in Europe, 125,000,- 
000 ; Spain, Italy and Portugal, 119,000,- 
000 ; Austria, South America and South 
Africa, 157.000,000; British North Ameri- 



LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 205 

ea, 12,000,000 ; North Africa, 49,000,000; 
and Asia, 470,000,000 ; making the aggre- 
gate of wool produced in the world, 1,610,- 
000,000 pounds or one pound and a quarter 
to each inhabitant on the globe — on the 
supposition that the total population is 
twelve hundred and eighty-five millions. 
As is the case with cotton, the most numer- 
ous woolen factories of America are found 
in New England. With these few particu- 
lars in view, we may proceed to speak of 
the peculiarities of factory life in the Uni- 
ted States, which of course must be done 
in very general terms. 

Wherever in the northern portions of the 
country, is to be found the best supply of 
water, suitable for running machinery, there 
do the manufacturing establishments mostly 
congregate. And it is because New Eng- 
land is rocky and not well suited to agri- 
culture, and also because its rivers are 
numerous and well adapted for mills, that 
its manufactures have become especially 
celebrated. The villages which have 



206 LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 

sprung up out of this kind of business, are 
to be found in every part of the land ; and 
while some of them consist only of the 
houses collected around one factory, others 
contain a number of factories, and are pro- 
portionally large. In one place the owner- 
ship may be vested in one man ; at another 
place in an organized company of men ; and 
then again, a single man or family may be 
the proprietor of several factories, employ- 
ing thousands of hands to carry them on, 
and requiring millions of money for their 
support. In this connection a few such 
men as Amos and Abbot Lawrence and 
William Sprague have acquired national rep- 
utations. In many instances the small 
villages alluded to are located in the midst 
of beautiful scenery, and the necessary sur- 
roundings of the mills, which give them ex- 
istence, are pleasant little churches, com- 
fortable school houses, shops for the sale of 
household merchandize, and appropriate 
houses for the shelter of the operatives. 
Men, women and children are all employed 



LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 207 

in these factories, and generally speaking, 
they absorb all the laboring population to 
be found in the country immediately sur- 
rounding them, as well as many persons 
from abroad. The idea of strict discipline 
is recognized and carried out, from the 
overseer down to the humblest workman, 
and it is in these small villages that a 
greater amount of comfort is enjoyed by the 
persons employed, than in the larger manu- 
facturing cities. Of course the facilities for 
obtaining the raw materials of cotton and 
wool and for transporting the manufactured 
goods to market, are commensurate with the 
necessities of the case ; and the establish- 
ments where the goods are sold, are gene- 
rally located in the larger cities. 

But a truly comprehensive idea of fac- 
tory life in America cannot be had without 
considering its character as we find it in 
the larger towns or cities, and no better ex- 
ample can be selected for that purpose than 
the city of Lowell in Massachusetts. What 
may be said of this place, is also true, only 



208 LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 

in a different degree, of all the factory towns 
throughout the country, and especially such 
places as Lawrence, Providence, Norwich, 
and Worcester ; and it may safely be said, 
that the aggregate number of persons who 
obtain their living by means of the cotton 
and woolen factories of the country, is not 
less than three hundred thousand. The 
growth and prosperity of Lowell as a manu- 
facturing town, are without any parallel in 
America. It lies on the river Merrimack, 
and the water power is formed by clams that 
are thirty feet high. It has not less than 
fifteen manufacturing corporations, with 
about sixty mills, which employ a capital 
of fifteen millions of dollars, and support 
about fifteen thousand hands, from the be- 
ginning to the close of the year, while the 
entire population of the city is nearly fifty 
thousand. All the mills are heated by 
steam and lighted by gas. The women 
who work in them far out-number the men; 
and although, a few years ago, much the 
larger proportion of these were native Ainer- 



LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 209 

kjans, so great a change has taken place in 
this particular, that the majority are now 
foreigners and chiefly Irish. The men are 
without ambition, and the women work for 
the sole purpose of making money, and not 
because they like the employment. Wid- 
ows are there, toiling for the education of 
their children ; and daughters are there, 
hoarding up their wages to pay the debts 
of improvident fathers. The labor of the 
women is essentially on an equality with 
that of the men ; but while the former receive 
from two to three dollars per week, in addi- 
tion to their board, the latter receive from 
four to six dollars for the same period. The 
time for labor ranges from ten to twelve 
hours per day, and extra sets of hands are 
often employed for night work. The hands 
are summoned to their work by the ringing 
of bells ; a brief time only is allowed for 
meals; and the only opportunities which 
the operatives have for recreation or study 
are at night, when worn out with the fatigue 
engendered by the jar and whirl of the ma- 



210 LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 

chinery in the mills. When the American 
element prevailed in these factories, an ear- 
nest effort was made to elevate the minds 
of the thousands of girls employed, and for 
a time, these efforts were successful. A 
monthly periodical was established called 
the "Lowell Offering," which was supported 
entirely by the productions of females work- 
ing in the mills, and in which, many valua- 
ble papers were published. For a time this 
magazine was very successful, and excited 
much wonder and comment among the fac- 
tory people of New England, but the novel- 
ty soon wore off, and the work was sus- 
pended. A leading American writer, while 
mourning over this fact, and also over the 
fact that there was so little comfort to be 
found in these large manufacturing towns, 
said, that the patron Saint of Lowell was 
Work; that the " Factory Girls " might be 
counted by the acre ; that the motto over 
the gateways should be, "Work or Die;" 
and that the fifty factories in the city were 
each larger and more imposing than the 



LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 211 

temples of worship in Japan and China. In 
the largest of these mills from one thousand 
to fifteen hundred women or girls are con- 
stantly employed, and from three hundred 
to five hundred men. Each manufacturing 
company owns from twenty to thirty dwell- 
ings, which are leased to responsible persons 
as boarding houses for the exclusive bene- 
fit of the hands employed in the factories. 
These dwellings are large enough to accom- 
modate from forty to fifty inmates, and the 
sexes are kept entirely separate. The Cor- 
porations also provide hospitals in which 
the work-people find attendance in sickness, 
for which, if they be unable to pay, the 
employers are responsible. While it is true 
that the young people, who are obliged to 
work in the factories, have little or no time 
to cultivate their minis, the younger chil- 
dren of the married people have every facil- 
ity afforded them to obtain knowledge ; the 
common schools of the city are numerous, 
well conducted, and chiefly under the direc- 
tion of competent female teachers. There 



212 LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 

is also a good library in the city, where all 
who are fond of reading, no matter how 
poor, can be furnished with useful and en- 
tertaining books : and the religious privi- 
leges enjoyed by all, by means of numerous 
churches, and the weekly day of rest which 
is called Sunday, are all that could be de- 
sired. But notwithstanding these many 
advantages, recent writers on this subject 
have declared that the extinction of the 
educated American operative has become 
an accomplished fact, and the mills of Low- 
ell, as well as those of the Atlantic States 
generally, are now worked, as already sta- 
ted, by immigrants from Europe — from Ire- 
land, Wales and Germany. But these, as 
they grow in intelligence and begin to go 
westward, like their predecessors, demand 
higher wages, shorter hours for work, and 
more freedom. They have learned the 
European lesson of fighting employers by 
combinations, and altogether, the problem 
has become so confused, that the manufac- 
turers are beginning to look for relief to the 



LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 213 

Chinese, a number of whom have already 
been induced to enter the factories of New 
England. American girls are said to be 
growing dissatisfied with the restraints of 
factory life, where they have to compete 
with the more rugged and experienced 
women from European countries ; hence 
they go to the larger cities and become do- 
mestic servants; but that kind of employ- 
ment they find irksome, and so they make 
another effort to succeed according to their 
wishes, and emigrate, as best they can, to 
the Western States. 

In the further elucidation of this subject, 
it is proper that w T e should consider the opin- 
ions of the manufacturers themselves. They 
assert that the opprobrious epithet of "white 
slavery," which has sometimes been applied 
to the labor in the New England fac- 
tories is wholly unwarranted. They claim 
to have purged it of every element of feud- 
alism ; that they have avoided the English 
plan of employing whole families in the 
mill, often including children, who should 



214 LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 

have been at school, — the families being 
kept in a state of absolute dependence upon 
the mill, and exposed to suffering when- 
ever business was not prosperous. They 
claim also to have abolished the custom of 
payment by orders on a factory store, which 
tended to involve the work people in debt, 
and they instituted the practice of weekly 
payment of wages in money; and that they 
have done all that could be done, to secure 
the independence as well as comfort of 
the American operatives. 

And here it occurs to us, we may furn- 
ish a further illustration of factory life in 
America by submitting a brief description 
of what may be termed a model New Eng- 
land establishment, as follows : It is located 
in the city of Lawrence ; is a joint stock 
company, with one hundred and fifty stock- 
holders and nine directors ; has one hun- 
dred thousand spindles ; and has a capital 
of $2,500,000, while its property is valued 
at a considerable advance on that sum. 
The manufactured goods, consisting chiefly 



LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 215 

of fabrics for the wear of women, made both 
of cotton and wool, which are annually sold, 
amount to about $7,500,000 ; and the to- 
tal dividends, declared, during the last 
twelve years, was more than three millions 
of dollars. 

The total number of work-people em- 
ployed in this factory is thirty-six hundred, 
of whom the men number 1680; women, 
1510 ; boys, between ten and twelve years 
of age, 80, and between twelve and eigh- 
teen, 140 ; girls, between ten and twelve, 
40, and between twelve and eighteen, 150. 
The lowest weekly wages, according to gold 
rates, are as follows: for men, $6.75 ; wo- 
men, $2.48 ; boys, $2.85 ; and young girls, 
$1.82 ; while spinners, weavers and a few 
others, receive according to the quantity of 
goods produced, and some of them large 
wages. Very many of the operatives are 
frugal with their money, and have invested 
their earnings in the stock of the company 
itself, deposited it in Saving's Banks, or 
purchased the bonds of the General Gov- 



216 LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 

ernment ; some of them have been so suc- 
cessful as to be elected members of the City 
Government; and not a few are the owners 
of comfortable houses. Where men are 
obliged to hire houses, they pay only one- 
eighth of their wages for rent ; and for the 
comfort and accommodation of the unmar- 
ried females, a large building has been erec- 
ted, holding not less than eight hundred 
persons, who pay, for food, lights and wash- 
ing, only one-third of their regular wages. 
Connected with the establishment is what 
they call a " Relief Society," organized for 
the care and support of the sick among the 
work people. Every possible attention is 
paid, both to the morals, and intellectural 
culture of the operatives. No men are em- 
ployed who are intemperate in their habits, 
and the use of profane language and the ill 
treatment of subordinates strictly prohibi- 
ted. All females are compelled to be at 
their lodgings by ten o'clock at night, and 
none of them are permitted to attend im- 
proper places of resort. No child ■ under 



LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 217 

ten years of age, according to law, is allowed 
to work in the factory, and all the boys and 
girls must be furnished with from eleven to 
sixteen weeks of schooling, in each year, 
and all the schools are paid for by the Com- 
pany. Of the persons employed, less than 
fifty in every thousand, are unable to read, 
and for the benefit of all there is a well 
conducted Library, with pleasant reading 
rooms for both sexes, and every facility is 
afforded for attending lectures, and places of 
profitable amusement. A week's labor in 
this establishment will produce more yards 
of cloth, than is produced in any European 
mill, but it is claimed that a yard of cloth 
costs less in Europe, which latter point, 
however, is not conceded by the Ameri- 
cans. 

But let us now look for a moment, at 
some of the local results of the cotton and 
woolen manufactures of recent times. It 
has been said, that where one person, a cen- 
tury ago, consumed one yard of woven 
goods, the consumption per head, has since 



218 LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 

risen to about twenty-six yards. This vast 
difference in the comforts of every family, 
by the ability which they now possess of 
easily acquiring warm and healthful cloth- 
ing, is a clear gain to all society, and to 
every individual as a portion of society. It 
is more especially a gain, they say, to the 
females and the children of families, whose 
condition is always degraded when clothing 
is scanty. The power of procuring cheap 
clothing for themselves, and for their chil- 
dren, has a tendency to raise the condition 
of females more than any other addition to 
their stock of comfort. It cultivates habits 
of cleanliness and decency, which are con- 
sidered in America, great aids to virtue, if 
not actual virtues themselves. There is 
little self-respect amid dirt and rags, accord- 
ing to the American belief, and without 
self-respect there can be no foundation for 
those qualities which mostly contribute to 
the good of society. The power of procur- 
ing useful clothing at a cheap price has 
tended to raise the condition of women in 



LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 219 

America, and the influence of the condition 
of women upon the welfare of a community 
can never be too highly estimated. If 
there be one thing more remarkable than 
another in the visible condition of the peo- 
ple of the United States, it is the univer- 
sality of good clothing. The distinction 
between the rich man and the artisan, or 
between the lady and her maid, is oftentimes 
almost imperceptible. Perhaps the absence 
of mere finery, and the taste which accom- 
panies good education, constitute the chief 
difference in the dress of various ranks ; 
and this feature of the present time is a 
part of the social history of America. 

The history of the cotton and woolen 
manufactures has occupied the minds of 
many of the ablest men in the world, and 
their developments are of vital interest to 
the whole human family. The arts of 
spinning and weaving were slowly devel- 
oped from the time of the simple distaff, and 
it was just as they had reached something 
like completion, that an American named 



220 LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 

Eli Whitney, invented the cotton gin in 
1793, which at once gave a new character 
and impulse to the growth, as w T ell as the 
manufacture of cotton. This invention was 
the final step by which the whole process 
of manufacturing cotton into cloth, was ef- 
fected by machinery ; and just about that 
time, steam was introduced to the world as 
an agent of limitless power, in driving ma- 
chinery of every kind; new channels of 
internal communication were opened be- 
tween the different parts of the world ; 
chemistry furnished the means for rapidly 
bleaching the fabrics produced from cotton ; 
and all the resources of science and skill, 
of invention and industry, seemed combined 
to create an immensely increased demand 
for the raw material upon which all these 
labors were to be expended. And if some- 
thing like this enterprise can be transported 
to Japan, what may we not expect, in the 
future, from that Empire ? 

There are many wonderful inventions 
connected with the manufacture of .cotton, 



LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 221 

but nothing is perhaps more astonishing 
than the rapidity with which some portions 
of the machinery is employed. Notice the 
fact for example, that the very finest 
thread which is used in making lace is passed 
through the strong flame of a lamp, which 
burns off the fibres, without burning the 
thread itself. The velocity with which the 
thread moves, is so great that the motion 
cannot be perceived. The line of thread, 
passing off a wheel through the flame, looks 
as if it were perfectly at rest ; and it ap- 
pears a miracle that it is not burned. The 
primary object of the extensive and com- 
plicated machinery employed in the manu- 
facture of cotton has been of course cheap- 
ness of production, and in that particular 
the advance, from the time of the distaff, 
has been wonderful and success, complete. 
Nor has this been done at the expense of 
the working classes. Ten years after the 
introduction of the machines, the people 
employed in the trade, spinners and weav- 
ers, were more than forty times as numer- 



222 LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 

ous as when the spinning was d me by hand. 
It was thought that the newly discovered 
power might supersede human labor alto- 
gether, but such was by no means the case. 
It only gave a new direction to the labor 
that had previously been employed at the 
distaff and spindle ; but it : ncreased the 
quantity of labor, altogether' employed in 
the manufacture of cotton, at least a hun- 
dred fold. What is here said of the ma- 
chines for manufacturing cotton, is also true 
of those employed in the woolen, the silk, 
and the linen manufactories, and to the un- 
educated eye and understanding they are 
all wonderful, and of incalculable value to 
the commercial world. 

But there is another curious machine 
which we may, with propriety, mention in 
this place, and that is one for making 
needles. Hitherto, the largest number of 
needles used in America were made in Eng- 
land, but there is a machine in New Haven 
in which the whole process is performed 
without the manual labor of a single person. 



LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 223 

A coil of steel wire is put into it ; then the 
machine cuts it off at the required lengths, 
punches the eye holes, countersinks the 
eyes, and then sharpens the needle, when 
it drops out a perfected thing. They are 
also arranged and put up in paper by ano- 
ther machine ; and the number of needles 
thus manufactured per day by each ma- 
chine is about forty thousand. 

But before dismissing the subject under 
consideration, we would submit to the Jap- 
anese reader a few remarks on the art, 
whose object is merely to beautify the very 
numerous fabrics which are made in the 
various factories already alluded to, — the 
art of printing cloth in colors. It applies 
to the most common as well as to the finest 
productions of the loom ; and the science 
of the dyer, the beauty of his patterns, 
and the perfection of his machinery, have 
become universally celebrated. As an ex- 
perienced writer has said, there is a strik- 
ing, although natural parallel, between 
printing a piece of cloth and printing the 



224 LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 

sheets of a book or newspaper. Block 
printing is the impress of the pattern by 
hand, as block-books were made four cen- 
turies ago. There are no block-books now, 
for machinery has banished that tedious 
process. But block printing is used for 
costly shawls and velvets, which require 
to have many colors produced by repeated 
impressions from blocks covered with dif- 
ferent colors. Except for the most expen- 
sive fabrics, however, this mode is super- 
seded by block printing with a press, in 
which several blocks are set in a frame. 
Then again they have what they call cyl- 
inder-printing, which resembles the rapid 
working of the book printing machine, each 
producing with great cheapness. As the 
pattern has to be obtained from several cyl- 
inders, each having its own color, there is 
great nicety in the operation ; and the most 
beautiful mechanism is necessary for feed- 
ing the cylinder with color; moving the 
cloth to meet the revolving cylinder; and 
giving to the machine its power of impress- 



LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 225 

ion. But those who witness this operation 
can hardly realize the ultimate effect sub- 
sequently obtained by the process of dyeing. 
Fast colors are produced by the use in the 
patterns of substances called mordants ; 
which may be colorless themselves, but re- 
ceive the color of the dye-bath, which color 
is only fixed in the parts touched by the 
mordants, and is washed out from the parts 
not touched. Other processes are also 
employed, which enhance the beauty of the 
fabrics. 

It is thus seen that the chemist, the ma- 
chinist, the designer and the engraver, 
set the calico-printing works in operation, 
so that the carrying on of this complicated 
business can only be profitably done on a 
large scale. Very numerous also are the 
employments required merely to produce 
the dyes, with which the calico printer 
works. The mineral, vegetable and even 
the animal kingdom, combine their natural 
productions in the colors of a lady's dress ; 
there is the sulphur from Sicily, salt from 



226 LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 

Austria or Turk's Island, peculiar woods 
from Brazil, indigo from the East and West 
Indies, madder from France, and insects 
from Mexico. The discoveries of science, 
in combination with experience and skill, 
have set all this industry in motion, and 
given a value to innumerable productions 
of nature, which would otherwise be use- 
less or unemployed ; and they also create 
modes of cultivation which are important 
sources of national prosperity. But of all 
the discoveries of chemistry, in this connec- 
tion, was that of chlorid of lime, which has 
become the universal bleaching powder of 
modern manufactures. What was formerly 
the work of eight months, is now accom- 
plished in an hour or two, — so that a bag 
of raw dingy cotton, may now be converted 
into the whitest cloth within the space of a 
single month. 

As an appropriate conclusion to the fore- 
going remarks, we may now submit a few 
general facts on the American Tariff of 
duties on imported merchandize. This- has 



LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 227 

been the .means on which the Federal Gov- 
ernment has chiefly depended for its sup- 
port, ever since it came into existence. It 
has also been amply sufficient for affording 
money to extend its territory, carry on 
wars, execute treaties and accumulate a 
large property in lands, buildings and ma- 
terials for war. From the earliest times 
however, the people have been divided into 
two great political parties on this subject, 
and yet the friends and opponents of the 
measure have in the main admitted that it 
is the best means for raising the public 
revenue, inasmuch as direct taxation has 
been thought impolitic for Federal revenue. 
There is a large class of people moreover, 
who believe that the levying of duties is 
detrimental to the agricultural interests. 
These, and numerous questions of a similar 
character, have long occupied the minds of 
the leading statesmen of the United States, 
and they remain unsettled to this day. As 
the political parties have gained ascen- 
dency, so have the tariff rates been changed 



228 LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 

or modified, from time to time, and in look- 
ing back over the forty years prior to the 
late civil war, we find that the rates of duty 
have varied from eighteen to forty-eight 
per centum, and that the largest receipts 
from customs during the period in question 
were in 1854, and amounted to $64,224,- 
190, — when the free imports reached 
$33,285,821, and the dutiable imports 
$271,276,560. The total imports at the 
port of New York in 1870, amounted to 
$315,200,022 ; and the exports, to $254,- 
137,208 ; while the figures for all the States 
for the same year, were imports, $373,894,- 
980 and the exports, $328,072,226 ; and 
for 1869, imports, $463,461,427, and ex- 
ports, $394,644,335. That these enormous 
figures have an important bearing upon the 
success, or want of success of the factory 
system in the United States, must be ap- 
parent to all men, who investigate these 
subjects. 

In accounting for the excess of imports 
over the exports, it may be stated that the 



LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 229 

difference arises chiefly from the importa- 
tion of articles of luxury. The American 
people are practical, and while they confine 
themselves, chiefly to producing the neces- 
saries and comforts of life, and to accumula- 
ting money, they are quite willing to obtain 
their fashions and articles of luxury from 
Europe. Notwithstanding the immense im- 
migration from abroad, the American people 
have always had enough to feed all who 
come to their shores, and to provide employ- 
ment for all ; and the strength of the nation 
is shown by the fact that in spite of the large 
amounts which are expended for the mere 
elegancies of life, which the rich bring over 
from Europe, the country is constantly 
prospering. 

But again. Statistics show that the trade 
of the United States has been regularly 
progressing, until interfered with by the 
late civil war. Generally speaking, the ex- 
ports have exceeded the imports, and the 
balance of trade has been in favor of Amer- 
ica. The export of grain does not depend 



230 LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 

upon the state of the crops, so much as upon 
the wants of other countries. The great 
variety of the native productions exported 
gives assurance of the impossibility of fail- 
ure of the resources of the nation. Figures 
also show that there is no industrial pursuit 
in which the people of the United States do 
not regularly progress, and that there is 
little demand for any class of produce which 
they are not able to supply. 

As the revenue of the country depends 
in a great measure upon the customs du- 
ties, so does its prosperity chiefly depend 
upon the amount of its exports of bread- 
stuffs and all sorts of merchandize ; but as 
the theories which have been brought to 
bear upon this subject are widely different 
and have occupied the minds of the ablest 
writers, they cannot be entered upon in this 
chapter. Upon one .subject, however, all 
men are agreed, viz : that the extension of 
commerce will do more than anything else 
to diffuse the blessings of civilization, to 
bind together the universal society of na- 



LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 231 

tions, by sharpening, and at the same time 
gratifying their mutual wants and desires, 
and to maintain undisturbed that tranquility 
so indispensable to its full development. 

P. S. Since the foregoing chapter was 
sent to the printer, we have received from 
the Bureau of Statistics and the Census 
Bureau some interesting particulars bear- 
ing upon the Factory, Mechanical and Farm 
life of the United States, which ought not 
to be omitted in this place. The following 
have reference to 1869. The hours of labor 
per week were sixty-six ; and omitting 
overseers, the average weekly earnings of 
operatives in the cotton mills was $5.56 in 
gold. The wages in the woolen mills ranged 
from five to seventeen dollars per week, 
including overseers ; in the paper mills 
from four and a half to twenty-six dollars ; 
in establishments for making musical instru- 
ments from fifteen to thirty-one dollars; in 
foundries and machine shops from eight to 
twenty-four dollars ; and in leather estab- 



232 LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 

lishments from nine to twenty-five dollars 
per week. In 1870, the average daily 
wages were for blacksmiths, $4.85 ; masons, 
$5.66 ; cabinet makers, $4.99 ; carpenters, 
$5.03; coopers, $4.30; painters, $5.36; 
plasterers, $6.51; shoemakers, $4.49 ; stone 
cutters, $6.10; tailors, $4.58; tanners, 
$3.97 ; tinsmiths, $4.96 ; and wheelwrights, 
$5.37. The wages for farm labor in the 
Eastern States, ranged from 73 cents to 
$1.49 per day, but on the Pacific States 
and Territories from $1.35 to $2.97 per 
day. As a subject of general interest, we 
also submit a list, showing the average re- 
tail prices, for the leading necessaries of 
life in 1869, as follows : Flour, $7.36 per 
barrel ; beef, veal, mutton and pork, nine to 
twenty-two cents per pound; butter, 38 
cents per pound ; dried fish, thirteen to fif- 
teen cents per pound ; potatoes per bushel, 
75 cents ; rice per pound, thirteen cents ; 
beans, eleven cents ; milk, nine cents per 
quart ; eggs, 29 cents per dozen ; tea, 
$1.40 per pound ; coffee, 28 to 35 .cents ; 



t 



LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 233 

sugar, fifteen to seventeen cents per pound; 
coal, $10.80 per ton ; and wood per cord, 
$3.98 to $4.98. The prices for plain house 
rent, ranged from ten to fifteen dollars per 
month; and plain board from $4.14 to 
$4.80 per week. And finally, for the want 
of a better place to print them, we submit 
the following aggregate of returns for the 
year 1870, respecting the agricultural re- 
sources of the country : 

Acres improved, 188,806,761 

Acres woodland, 158,908,121 

Acres unimproved, 59,366,633 

Cash value of farms, $9,261,775,121 

Cash value of agricultural implements, $336,890,871 

Wages paid, $310,063,473 

Farm products, $2,445,602,379 

Value of live stock, $1,524,271,714 

Wheat, bushels, 267,730,931 

Rye, bushels, 17,000,000 

Indian corn, bushels, 760,963,204 

Oats, bushels, 282,095,996 

Barley, bushels, 29,761,267 

Buckwheat, bushels, 9,821,662 

Rice, pounds, 73,635,021 

Tobacco, pounds, 262,729,640 



234 LIFE IN THE FACTORIES. 

Cotton, bales, 2,999,721 

Wool, pounds, 102,053,264 

Potatoes, bushels, 143,230,000 

Sweet potatoes, bushels, 21,634,000 

Wine, gallons, 3,096,000 

Cheese, pounds, . 53,492,000 

Butter, pounds, 514,002,460 

Milk, gallons, 236,500,000 

Hay, tons, 27,416,000 

Hops, pounds, 28,456,669 

Sugar (cane,) pounds, 87,043,000 

Sugar (maple,) pounds, 28,443,000 

Molasses (cane,) gallons, .... 6,600,000 

Molasses (sorghum,) gallons, . . . 16,041,000 



PART SEVENTH 



/ 



EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTI- 
TUTIONS. 



Although the cause of Education in 
America has always been considered of 
primary interest and importance, there does 
not, after all, exist a regular and uniform 
system of instruction. The diversity of 
plans is almost as various, as the several 
States of the Union are numerous, for each 
State, in its sovereign capacity, has a right 
to devise and execute, and does execute 
such provisions for the education of the 
people as are deemed expedient. Setting 
aside, therefore, a detailed account of all 
the existing plans, we can only consider in 
this place the characteristics of the school 
systems of the States in their collective 
capacity. It should be remembered, how- 
ever, that the Federal Government is a 



238 EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

most liberal patron of the schools in all 
parts of the country, and that a majority of 
the States have received large grants of 
land to be used for the support of educa- 
tional institutions, and that they have ap- 
propriate officers to look after, and expend, 
the revenue derived from the sale of those 
lands. Ten years ago, the aggregated 
amount of money realized from the liber- 
ality of the general Government was about 
fifty millions of dollars, but this amount 
has been annually increased since then; 
and when to this fund we add the appro- 
priations regularly made by the State Leg- 
islatures, we find that the total amount of 
money spent for educational purposes is 
truly enormous, and that in this particular, 
if not in any other, the States of America 
are unequalled by any other nation. Hence 
it is, that there is ample provision made by 
the authorities alone, without including the 
munificent gifts of private individuals, to 
furnish every child in the land with a good 
education, and the black race or Fre.edmen, 



EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 239 

have the same privileges which are enjoyed 
by the whites. Prior to the late Rebellion 
there existed no provision for the education 
of the colored race, but as soon as they be- 
came free, measures were taken for their 
education, and in 1869 the total number 
w T ho were known to be in attendance upon 
day, night, or Sunday schools, under the 
auspices of the Freedmen's Bureau, was up- 
wards of 250,000, and the Freedmen paid 
out of their own earnings about $200,000 
for tuition and $125,000 for school build- 
ings. 

But we must now proceed to submit a 
general account of the educational systems 
of the United States, and we begin with 
the Common Schools, the principle of which 
is the free elementary education of every 
child in the community, and which under- 
lies the whole intellectual fabric of the 
American Republic. The system as for- 
merly practiced, originated in New England 
at the commencement of the present cen- 
tury, and was based upon the following 



240 EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

ideas : 1, the instruction of all the children 
in the State in the rudiments of an English 
education, viz — reading, writing, elemen- 
tary arithmetic and geography, and gram- 
mar, this to be accomplished by schools in 
every district ; 2, each district to be inde- 
pendent of every other in all financial mat- 
ters, and management ; 3, that there should 
be a superintendent or board of visitors in 
each town, generally consisting of profes- 
sional men and especially clergymen, to 
examine teachers, inspect the schools, and 
prescribe text books ; 4, the support of 
these schools by taxation; and 5, the power 
of compelling attendance on the part of the 
town authorities. After an experience of 
nearly twenty years, it was found that the 
condition of the schools was not up to the 
demands of the time, ttnd a revival in the 
cause of education took place which result- 
ed in greatly increasing the efficiency of the 
old system, until it was brought to a state 
of rare excellence, through the efforts of 
such men as Horace Mann and Henry Bar- 



EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 241 

nard. The school system was again regen- 
erated, and now possesses all the elements 
of the highest efficiency, the leading features 
of which are as follows : First, a system o f 
graded schools for each town, embracing 
primary schools for the younger pupils ; 
grammar schools for the older, in which 
are taught, in addition to the common 
branches, philosophy, chemistry, history, 
drawing, music, algebra, geometry, and the 
French language ; high schools for the more 
advanced, in which are taught the studies 
necessary for a business education, as well 
as the languages and the higher mathema- 
tics. Secondly, the employment of regular 
visitors, who are paid for their services. 
Thirdly, the enforcement of uniformity of 
text books and regularity in attendance. 
Fourthly, regular and frequent public ex- 
aminations. Fifthly, the establishment of 
school libraries in connection with all the 
schools. Sixthly, the introduction of black 
boards, globes, maps, charts, and other ap- 
paratus for instruction. Seventhly, the pro- 



242 EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

per construction of school houses. Eighth- 
ly, the establishment in every State of nor- 
mal schools for the instruction of regular 
teachers. Ninthly, the organization of 
State associations for comparison of meth- 
ods of teaching, and the establishment of 
school periodicals. And tenthly, the ex- 
tension of the privileges of these schools to 
all the children of the school age in each 
State either by supporting the schools en- 
tirely by taxation and the income of funds 
where they exist, or by taxation and small 
rate bills, which are abated where they are 
unable to pay, and the furnishing of neces- 
sary books to the children of the poor. 

That the above is a noble ground-work 
for the education of the masses must be 
acknowledged by all, and yet we find it a 
subject of serious complaint that the teach- 
ers in the common schools are not what 
they should be. In the great majority of 
cases, they are said to be too young and 
inexperienced, and that both the young 
men and young women employed look upon 



EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 243 

the office merely as a stepping-stone to bet- 
ter positions or more agreeable employ- 
ments, and not as a permanent business. 
An office under the Government, or a pro- 
fession, will allure the young man from the 
school room ; and so also, will an offer of 
marriage, the young woman. Of course 
there are many teachers whose knowledge, 
discipline, and nobleness of character, emi- 
nently fit them for their responsible posts, 
but they are not sufficiently numerous to 
form a class ; — and it was this fact which 
caused a prominent writer on the subject 
to suggest that all badly managed schools 
should be closed, and that the houses should 
bear this inscription — "Poor teachers worse 
than no teachers." In the one particular 
to which we have alluded, it is confessed 
by leading Americans, that Prussia is far 
in advance of the United States. But not- 
withstanding this drawback, the common 
schools of the country are a great national 
blessing. They are free and open to the 
poorest children in the community; — but 



244 EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

because these advantages are not always 
accepted by the people, in some of the 
States of the Union, laws have been passed 
compelling a certain attendance at school. 
The houses are comfortable and convenient- 
ly located in every district where they are 
needed. The teachers are generally intel- 
ligent and circumspect in their lives and 
morals, and where they make teaching a 
regular profession, are all that could be 
reasonably expected or desired. With re- 
gard to their compensation there is no uni- 
formity, but it is estimated to range from 
thirty-nine to fifty-seven dollars per month 
for male teachers, with board, and from 
twenty-seven to thirty dollars per month 
for female teachers, with board. But, per- 
haps a better idea, on this head, may be 
obtained by looking at the average of the 
annual salaries which have recently been 
paid in some of the leading cities, as follows: 
Boston, $798 ; Cincinnati, $769 ; New Ha- 
van,$577; New York, $649 ; New Orleans, 
$675; Philadelphia, $415; San Francisco, 



EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 245 

$829 ; and Washington, $507. Nor is there, 
as we have already stated, any uniformity 
in the management of the schools by the 
State authorities, and so with a view of at- 
tempting to give a general idea of their 
condition, we submit the following figures 
in regard to four of the representative 
States of the Republic : — The number of 
scholars who attend school in the small 
State of Connecticut is 124,000 — amount 
expended in 1870 for school purposes, $1,- 
269,152, and its school fund is $2,046,108; 
in New York there are 1,000,000 children 
in the common schools, and 120,000 in the 
private schools, — the school houses are val- 
ued at $20,500,000, the amount paid to 
teachers is $6,500,000, amount expended 
in 1870 for instruction nearly $10,000,000, 
and the school fund is $11,300,000 ; in 
Pennsylvania, the scholars are 900,753, 
schools 14,212, teachers 17,612, school 
property $14,045,632, and annual expenses 
about $7,000,000 ; and in Ohio the schol- 
ars are 740.382, and the school expendi- 



246 EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

tures in 1870 amounted to $7,771,761. 
Total amount of school fund in all the States 
is estimated at fifty millions of dollars. 
We give no figures in regard to any of the 
Southern States, first, because the system 
of common schools has never flourished in 
that region of the country, and secondly, 
because the late war has so deranged all 
public matters in those States, that no 
statements at this time would do them full 
justice. Notwithstanding all that has been 
done in the United States for the cause of 
Education, it has been estimated that the 
illiterate people of the country number 
about six millions. 

With regard to the much discussed sub- 
ject of the Bible in common schools, we 
may submit the following remarks by a dis- 
tinguished professor of Harvard University: 
" To banish the Bible, was to garble history, 
for there was much history, of which it was 
the only source. Christianity is the great 
factor in the history of the world. If moral 
philosophy is to be taught, it must be chris- 



EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 247 

tian ethics. For the culture of the taste 
and imagination, the Bible transcends all 
other literature. Our English Bible has 
rendered important service in preserving 
our language. It is the key to the best 
English diction and has helped to form the 
diction of every child. Our children should 
not be kept in ignorance of the fact that 
we are a christian peop ] e. Sectarian relig- 
ion should be excluded; but this can be 
done only by giving an unsectarian book, 
and the Bible is such a book. The Roman 
Catholics, in opposing the introduction of 
the Bible in common schools, do not so 
much object to the book itself, but rather 
desire that the school funds should be sep- 
arated, which course, the Protestants think 
would be detrimental to the welfare of the 

whole svstem." 

*/ 

With a view of enhancing the efficiency 
of the common schools in the United States, 
there have been organized, within the last 
few years, a large number of Normal schools, 
the sole object of which is to educate a class 



248 EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

of persons solely for the business of teach- 
ing, whereby very great good has already 
been accomplished in elevating the tone of 
instruction. At the present time there are 
fifty of these schools in successful operation 
in the Northern States, which are supported 
by the City or State governments, and not 
less than thirty in the Southern States, for 
the benefit of the freedmen ; — and the num- 
ber of teachers already educated by them, 
including males and females, is estimated 
at two hundred thousand, and the pupils 
now being instructed about nine thousand. 
"While there is no special uniformity in the 
management of these schools, we may ob- 
tain a general idea of their character by 
glancing at the features of a single one of 
them which has been particularly success- 
ful, viz — the Normal University of Illinois. 
Candidates for admission to this institution, 
whether male or female, must have attained 
the age of sixteen ; must produce certificates 
of good moral character; must sign a declar- 
ation that they intend to devote themselves 



EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 249 

to school-teaching in Illinois ; and must pass 
a satisfactory examination in reading, spell- 
ing, writing, arithmetic, geography, and the 
elements of English grammar. The neces- 
sary annual expenses, for each pupil, range 
from ninety-seven to one hundred and 
eighty-eight dollars. There are five profes- 
sors, and the term of study is the usual one 
of three years : and the course of instruc- 
tion embraces the following subjects : Met- 
aphysics; history and methods of educa- 
tion ; constitution of the State and the Uni- 
ted States ; school laws ; English language ; 
arithmetic ; algebra ; geometry ; natural 
philosophy ; book-keeping ; geography ; his- 
tory; astronomy; chemistry; botony; phys- 
iology; geology; vocal music; and writing 
and drawing. The total number of pupils 
is three hundred ; and there is an append- 
age to the institution called a model school, 
which contains five hundred pupils, whose 
tuition is free, although they have to sup- 
port themselves. While the Americans 
confess that their common schools are not 



250 EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

equal in efficiency to those of some other 
countries, they claim that this state of 
things cannot continue, and that their Nor- 
mal schools, as at present organized, are 
unsurpassed. 

Before an American youth can pass from 
a common school into a college, he is obliged 
to go through a course of studies, in what 
is called a High School or Academy. These 
institutions are exceedingly varied in char- 
acter, quite numerous, independent in or- 
ganization, and very frequently originate 
in the liberality of private individuals. Al- 
though the instruction afforded by them is 
not gratuitous, the expenses are generally 
moderate. In some of them, however, pro- 
vision is made by public appropriations for 
the education of such pupils as are too poor 
to pay. It often happens, however, that 
when young men are about to leave the 
academy, or High School, they conclude 
that their education has, been sufficiently ad- 
vanced for all practical purposes, and so re- 
linquish the idea of passing through college. 



EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 251 

And here, before describing the Colleges 
and Universities of America, we may with 
propriety allude to the present condition of 
the miscellaneous schools of the country. 
Of distinct schools of Science, unconnected 
with colleges, there are none of any import- 
ance ; but the Sheffield Scientific School, 
which forms a part of Yale College, and 
the Lawrence Scientific School, connected 
with Harvard University, are both flourish- 
ing institutions, and are doing much to meet 
the wants of the age ; while there are de- 
partments, standing on nearly the same 
basis, belonging to Brown University, Rut- 
gers College, and the University of Michi- 
gan. As to Industrial Schools, there is 
also a great dearth of these in the United 
States ; especially is this true in regard to 
Engineering, and Navigation ; and about all 
that is accomplished in the country, in the 
way of art instruction, is accomplished by 
the National Academy and Cooper Insti- 
tute of New York, the Athenseum in Bos- 
ton, the Academy of Arts in Philadelphia, 



252 EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS, 

and the Peabocly Institute in Baltimore. 
In Massachusetts, New York and Pennsyl- 
rania, they have Institutions of Technol- 
ogy : in California, a College of Mining and 
the Mechanic Arts, associated with Agri- 
culture ; and attached to Columbia College, 
in New York, they have a School of Mines. 
As to the advantages afforded by Agricul- 
tural Colleges, they are quite numerous, 
and well-endowed institutions are to be 
found in the States of Delaware, Illinois, 
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, 
Maryland, Massachusetts, (where there are 
several Japanese students,) Michigan, Min- 
nesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ver- 
mont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. In 
none of the public schools of America 
are the foundation principles of commerce 
taught, and hence there have been estab- 
lished by private individuals what is called 
a " Chain of Commercial Colleges ;" — they 
number not less than forty, and extend from 
Maine to Louisiana ; their course of instruc- 
tion is very complete, and covers all that 



EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 253 

is necessary for a commercial life ; and be- 
cause this association is under one bead, 
the regulations are such, that a student, af- 
ter completing a course of studies in one, 
may again take them up and pursue them 
at another school of the Chain, without ad- 
ditional expense. With regard to the theo- 
logical institutions, they have already been 
mentioned in a previous part of this volume; 
and on a page which is to follow, we shall 
speak of the Army and Navy Schools of the 
country. The only Schools remaining to 
be mentioned under this miscellaneous head 
are those devoted to the study of Medicine 
and Law. The Medical Colleges and Schools 
of the country number fifty -one, and, first 
and last, as a competent writer has said, 
there have stood at the head of them, men 
of learning, genius, and eminent distinction. 
And so, there have also been in the ranks 
of the profession, many physicians and sur- 
geons of great ability and skill. But hard- 
ly any one, who is acquainted with the 
status of medical education in America, will 



254 EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

claim that either the distinguished profes- 
sor, author or practitioner, has owed his suc- 
cess, in any considerable degree, to the 
training of the schools ; for, as compared 
with the European standard, the training 
in America has been unsatisfactory to the 
last degree. The Law Schools of the Uni- 
ted States number -twenty-two ; and it is 
said that, in at least one respect, they are 
superior to those of England : — in that, what 
they assume to do at all, they do more tho- 
roughly and well. But it is no less true, 
that they undertake very little in compari- 
son with what is both attempted and ac- 
complished in several of the European coun- 
tries. In the form of departments, there 
are schools of law connected with many of 
the leading colleges ; and in all of them the 
term of study is two years, the courses of 
instruction being so arranged that a com- 
plete view is given during each year of the 
subjects embraced within it. The profes- 
sors number from one to five in each of these 
schools ; a majority of them, in many in- 



EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 255 

stances, being judges of the Supreme Courts 
and resident lawyers in regular practice, 
whose services are gratuitous or partially 
compensated. The terms of admission are 
simply good morals and the age of eighteen 
years, and the fees, payable in advance, 
amount to one hundred dollars. The law- 
yers of the United States, as heretofore 
mentioned, have much to do with the mak- 
ing of the national laws, and the affairs of 
the General Government ; and a competent 
American critic has said — how few of them 
have been students of political economy, of 
civil polity, and of universal history, is 
painfully manifest from the legislative dis- 
cussions they hold, and the laws they enact. 
We come now to speak, in general terms, 
of the Collegiate Institutions of the United 
States, known as Universities, Colleges, 
Seminaries and Institutes, and which num- 
ber in the aggregate not less than two hun- 
dred and eighty-five, — exclusive of eighty- 
two,, in which theology is alone studied. 
While their courses of instruction embrace 



256 EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

all branches of learning, it is almost invari- 
ably the case that something like a secta- 
rian element pervades each institution, the 
only exceptions to this rule being those 
which are supported by the State Govern- 
ments. The number of institutions in Amer- 
ica, bearing the title of university, is larger 
than in any other country, and a less num- 
ber of them is said to have really any sort 
of claim to the title. On the other hand, 
there are several Colleges which, though 
bearing that more modest name, are really 
entitled to be called universities. And 
then again there are Seminaries and Insti- 
tutes, which would seem, from their extent 
and high character, to be worthy of being 
called Colleges. The precise meaning of 
the term University, is a universal school, 
in which are taught all branches of learn- 
ing, or the four faculties of theology, medi- 
cine, law, and the sciences and arts ; a 
College is a school incorporated for purposes 
of instruction, where the students may ac- 
quire a knowledge of the languages and 



EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 257 

sciences ; the idea of a Seminary or an 
Academy, is allied to that of a college, only 
that the former are more especially designed 
for a younger class of students ; and an In- 
stitute is a literary or philosophical society, 
formed by persons for their mutual instruc- 
tion and advantage in all matters connected 
with intellectual culture. The so-called 
Universities of Amerca number one hun- 
dred, while the other collegiate institutions 
are about equally divided between the three 
remaining classes. To give an account of 
all, is of course not to be expected in this 
paper, but the reader may obtain a general 
idea of their character by glancing at a few 
of the more influential and prominent insti- 
tutions. 

Harvard College, located at Cambridge, 
in Massachusetts, and founded in 1636, is 
the oldest institution of learning in Amer- 
ica. It has twenty-eight professors and 
about five hundred students ; and although 
it has hitherto had a Liberal divinity school, 
arrangements have recently been made for 



258 EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

incorporating in it an " Episcopal Theolog- 
ical School." It has a Law department 
with three professors ; a Medical depart- 
ment with eleven professors ; a School 
of Astronomy with two professors ; a Den- 
tal school with seven professors ; a Muse- 
um of Zoology with lectures by four pro- 
fessors ; and the Lawrence Scientific School 
and School of Mining and Practical Geol- 
ogy with seven professors. Its general and 
special libraries comprise one hundred and 
fifty thousand volumes, and its scientific 
collections are extensive and of great value. 
It is managed by one President, five Fel- 
lows, and one Treasurer, and by thirty over- 
seers chosen by the State Legislature ; its 
endowment fund, derived from numerous 
individuals and corporations, and indepen- 
dent of the college grounds, buildings, libra- 
ries and collections, is somewhat over two 
millions of dollars; and its annual income 
is about one hundred and eighty thousand 
dollars. The term of study in the law 
school is two years ; in the divinity school, 



EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 259 

three ; and candidates for the degree of 
doctor of medicine, must have studied three 
years, and attended two courses of lectures. 
The next oldest institution of learning 
in America is Yale College, founded at New 
Haven, Connecticut, in 1700. It has about 
sixty professors, and usually seven hundred 
students. Besides an Academical depart- 
ment, it has five others, devoted to philos- 
ophy, theology, law, medicine, and the fine 
arts. Its miscellaneous collections are ex- 
tensive and very valuable, and its libraries 
comprise about eighty-five thousand vol- 
umes. The total amount of its funds avail- 
able for the support of the college is some- 
thing over one million of dollars. This col- 
lege differs from Harvard chiefly in the con- 
stitution of its department of philosophy 
and the arts, which has come to be known 
as the Sheffield Scientific School. Candi- 
dates for admission are obliged to be six- 
teen years of age, and to undergo a two-fold 
examination — first in mathematical studies, 
and secondly in elementary literary studies. 



260 EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

The charge for tuition is one hundred and 
twenty-five dollars, but students of chemis- 
try have to pay an additional sum of sev- 
enty-five dollars. The term of study in 
each of the courses is three years ; and in 
the divinity school no charge is made for 
tuition. 

Another college of note and influence is 
Columbia College, founded in the city of 
New York in 1754, but prior to 1787 it 
was known as King's College. Its funds, 
derived chiefly from donations, amount to 
two millions of dollars ; its professors about 
fifty, and the usual number of students is 
nine hundred. It has four departments, 
devoted to Letters and Science, Mines, Law T , 
and Medicine. The charges for tuition 
range from one hundred to one hundred and 
sixty dollars per annum ; several societies 
and municipal corporations are entitled to 
several scholarships free of charge ; every 
religious denomination in the city of New T 
York is entitled always to have one student 
free of all charges for tuition ; and every 



EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 261 

school from which there shall be admitted 
four matriculants in any year, is also allow- 
ed to send one pupil free of charge. 

The College of New Jersey, located at 
Princeton, is another of the venerable insti- 
tutions of the United States. It was foun- 
ded in 1746 ; has about twenty professors, 
and nearly three hundred students ; is sup- 
ported by the Presbyterians, and has edu- 
cated nearly nine hundred men for the Min- 
istry ; charges a tuition fee of seventy dol- 
lars ; and has a choice library of twenty- 
five thousand volumes. In Georgetown, 
District of Columbia, there is a Roman Cath- 
olic College, founded in 1792, with twenty 
professors, two hundred students, and a 
library of thirty thousand volumes ; in 
Brunswick, Maine, is located Bowdoin Col- 
lege, founded in 1802, and possessing a 
library of thirty-seven thousand volumes ; 
in New Hampshire they have Dartmouth 
College, founded in 1769, supported by the 
Congregationalists, and with thirty-eight 
thousand volumes in its library ; in Penn- 



262 EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

sylvania, Dickinson College, founded in 
1783, supported by the Methodists, and 
with twenty-five thousand volumes ; in 
Rhode Island, Brown University, founded 
in 1764, supported by the Baptists, and 
having a library of thirty-eight thousand 
volumes ; and in Virginia, a State Univer- 
sity, founded in 1819, with thirty-five thou- 
sand volumes. But these several institu- 
tions, which have more recently been found- 
ed, and which are growing with great rap- 
idity and exercising a paramount influence 
in the educational world, viz : the Univer- 
sities of Michigan, Kentucky, and Illinois, 
and the Cornell University in New York. 
But there is another institution which de- 
serves special mention, because of its ex- 
tent and peculiar character, viz : Vassar 
College, located at Poughkeepsie, New York. 
It was founded in 1861 through the liber- 
ality of one man, Matthew Yassar, and is 
wholly devoted to the education of women. 
The buildings are extensive and beautiful; 
the school offers the highest educational 



EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 263 

facilities to females at moderate expense, 
and admits as beneficiaries those who are 
unable to pay even that expense. Special 
attention is devoted to the fine arts, and it 
has a corps of instructors in the English 
language and literature, the modern lan- 
guages of Europe and their literature, an- 
cient languages, mathematics, all the branch- 
es of natural science, including anatomy, 
physiology, hygiene, intellectual and moral 
philosophy, political economy and the sci- 
ence of government, domestic economy, and 
the study of the Scriptures, without secta- 
rianism. 

Notwithstanding the fact that the educa- 
tional records of the United States are very 
complete, and the amount of money annu- 
ally expended in the cause is very large, 
it would seem that the requirements of the 
age and of America have not as yet hy any 
means been attained. An American writer, 
in an elaborate report on this subject, pub- 
lished at the National expense, has summed 
up his opinions in a single paragraph, as 



264 EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

follows : To tell the plain truth, he says, 
the very best of our many universities are 
but sorry skeletons of the well-developed 
and shapely institutions they ought to be 
and must become, before they will be fairly 
entitled to rank among the foremost univer- 
sities of even this present day. And if we 
are not content always to suffer the con- 
tempt of European scholars, who properly 
enough regard us as a very clever, but also 
a very uncultured, people, it is time that 
all true lovers of learning, as well as all 
who desire the highest prosperity and glory 
of America, should awake to the importance 
of at once providing the means of a pro- 
founder, broader, and higher culture in 
every department of human learning. 

As the education of women is a subject 
which possesses a peculiar interest for the 
people of Japan, we here submit a few 
observations in that connection. In Amer- 
ica, females possess precisely the same ad- 
vantages for education that are possessed 
by the males. Boys and girls are admitted 



EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 265 

to the same schools ; and the gentle influ- 
ences of the latter are counterbalanced by 
the elevating influences of the former, 
whereby it is thought that both classes are 
improved. At the same time, there are 
thousands of schools in which the two sexes 
are instructed separately. The idea is uni- 
versal that the women of the country are 
capable of receiving, and should receive the 
highest kind of education ; and as to the 
question of their right to take part in poli- 
tics, by voting, which has been extensively 
discussed in America, it seems to be one 
of those problems which the future alone 
can establish. The important part which 
the women of America take in educational 
affairs is shown by the following facts, — 
that they are educated at the Normal schools 
for the express purpose of becoming teach- 
ers, — that they officiate as teachers in thou- 
sands of the common schools, — that Semi- 
naries for the education of young ladies are 
to be found in every part of the country, — 
that they are admitted into several of the 



266 EDUCATIONAL LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

American Colleges as regular students, and 
that a number of institutions of the highest 
character are exclusively devoted to the 
education of women, the most extensive and 
interesting, Vassar College, having already 
been mentioned. Not only are the libraries 
of the country regularly visited and used by 
ladies, (in some of which they are employed 
as librarians,) but in the leading cities are 
to be found libraries and reading rooms, 
designed for their use exclusively, and all 
of them in harmony with the idea of Amer- 
ican civilization. 



PART EIGHTH 



LITERARY, ARTISTIC AND SCIEN- 
TIFIC LIFE. 



Under the head of literary life, we pro- 
pose to submit some information on the 
book-publishing and newspaper interests of 
the United States. When an author has 
written a book, whether large or small, and 
desires to profit by its publication, he is 
obliged to take out a copy-right, by which 
the Government promises to protect his 
rights, for a term of years, in the profits of 
the work, as his own property. The doc- 
ument in question is issued, under the law, 
by the Librarian of Congress, and two copies 
of every book or pamphlet published, have 
to be deposited in the National Library, 
whereby the collection of volumes belong- 
ing to the Government, is annually increased 



270 LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 

to a large extent. The books printed and 
the authors who write them, are so nume- 
rous that it would be quite impossible even 
to name them in this place. The best and 
most comprehensive work ever published 
on the authors who have written in the 
English language, was written b}' an Amer- 
ican, named S. Austin Allibone : it is called 
a " Dictionary of Authors," and contains the 
names of not less than forty-six thousand 
authors, with an account of their publica- 
tions. 

As to the subjects upon which books are 
written, they are of course very numerous, 
the general heads under which they are 
arranged being as follows : Theology and 
Religion, Poetry, History, Biography, Geo- 
graphy and Travels, Philosophy, Science, 
Social Reform, School Books, Useful and 
Fine Arts, Fiction, Literature, Miscellane- 
ous Books, Republications and Translations 
from Foreign authors. With many men, 
as well as women, the writing of books is 
a special business, and then again there are 



LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 271 

thousands of books written merely as a pas- 
time by their authors, or from motives of 
personal vanity ; generally speaking, the 
writers do not find the business profitable ; 
but then again, there are authors who make 
a great deal of money by writing — espe- 
cially is this the case with school books, 
novels, and national histories. The men 
who print and sell the books, which are 
written, are called publishers, and in all the 
principal cities are to be found establish- 
ments which do business on a very large 
scale. Some of them give employment to 
large numbers of people, such as writers, 
paper makers, printers, binders, artists of 
various kinds and machinists, as well as 
clerks and common workmen, and not a few 
have acquired very large fortunes by this 
branch of industry. They usually sell 
books by the quantity alone, and the retail 
merchants, who purchase of them, are to 
be found in every town and village in the 
whole land. When an author has written 
a book, he either sells his copy-right to the 



272 LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 

publisher for a specific sum of money, after 
which he has nothing to do with his work, 
or else, he allows the publisher the privi- 
lege of printing and selling his book, charg- 
ing for the same a certain per centum on 
the price of each volume, retaining the 
ownership of the work in his own name. 
While many of the books published are so 
interesting or valuable as to be purchased 
by everybody interested in the subject, 
very many of them can only be sold by 
means of extravagant notices in the news- 
papers, and hence the custom prevails of 
sending most of all the new books to the 
newspapers, which pretend to give impar- 
tial notices, but often do the very reverse. 
The custom of reading books among the 
people of America is almost universal, far 
more so, it is said, than is the case in Eng- 
land or France ; and in every home, from 
that of the rich merchant, down to the 
poorest farmer, may generally be found 
such collections of books as they desire or 
can afford to buy. And for those who can 



LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 273 

not afford to purchase all they may wish to 
read, in the cities and towns everywhere, 
they have circulating libraries, where for a 
small consideration, books may be read, or 
borrowed, to be read, at home. In most of 
the leading cities, collections of this sort 
have been established which are very ex- 
tensive and valuable. The good which 
these libraries accomplirh by furnishing the 
people with information on every conceiv- 
able subject, cannot be estimated; — the 
money which some of them have cost would 
reach a million of dollars ; and the largest 
in the country, which is called the National 
Library, and located in Washington City, 
contains not less than two hundred thousand 
volumes, and is entirely free to all who may 
desire to consult its treasures. In 1860, 
there were 27,730 libraries in the country, 
in which were collected nearly fourteen 
millions of volumes. 

But the most striking feature connected 
with the literature of America, is the uni- 
versal circulation of newspapers and maga- 



274 LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 

zines which are read by all classes of the 
people, and so conducted as to form, to a 
great extent, a substitute for books. Ac- 
cording to the latest accounts, the whole 
number of periodicals issued in the United 
States and its Territories is 6,056; of these 
637 are published daily; 118 tri-weekly ; 
129 semi-weekly; 4642 weekly; 21 bi- 
weekly; 100 semi-monthly; 715 monthly; 
14 bi-monthly ; and 62 are issued quarter- 
ly. Of this large number it is estimated 
that about four-fifths are political journals, 
the remainder being religious or literary. 
It is through these numerous publications 
that the mind of the nation is chiefly ex- 
pressed, and its intellectual pulse may gen- 
erally be measured, by the success of the 
several journals. While very many of these 
have a circulation, which is confined to their 
particular religious sect or political party, 
there are a few whose circulation is im- 
mense, and their influence proportionably 
extensive. For example, there is one week- 
ly paper published in New York, which has 



LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 27o 

a circulation of 175,000, and if we estimate 
that each paper is read by five persons, 
which is not unlikely, we perceive, that 
each issue has the teaching of 875,000 
minds ; and then again, there are some 
daily papers, which issue every morning 
from one hundred thousand to two hundred 
thousand copies. As far back as 1860, it 
was estimated that the circulation of the 
newspapers alone amounted to 100,000,000. 
Hence we perceive that the power of the 
Press is enormous, and it is a matter of the 
utmost importance that it should be con- 
ducted with honesty and wisdom. That 
portion of it which comes under the head 
of newspapers, is by far the most profitable, 
so far as making money is concerned, but 
the profit does not come from selling the 
paper alone. In all of them certain columns 
or pages are filled up with advertisements, 
and as these are paid for on liberal terms, 
they become a source of profit. The own- 
ership of these papers is generally vested 
in a company of men, who are the printers 



276 LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 

and publishers ; and as some of these great 
establishments send forth books, as well as 
newspapers and periodicals, we can only 
obtain an idea of the extent of their busi- 
ness by resorting to figures. According to 
the latest published statements the capital 
invested in printing and publishing is about 
$20,000,000; cost of raw material used, 
$13,000,000 ; cost of labor per annum about 
$8,000,000 ; number of hands employed 
more than 20,000 ; and the value of books, 
periodicals, and daily journals nearly $32,- 
000,000. With these figures before us, we 
cannot wonder that what is called the Press 
of America should be considered an element 
of almost incalculable power. As has well 
been said, it records with fidelity the pro- 
ceedings of Congress, of all State and Ter- 
ritorial Legislatures, and of Judicial tribu- 
nals, holds the pulpit to a just responsibili- 
ty, reviews the doings of business and social 
life, and watches with sleepless vigil ence 
over the concerns of the people. It is the 
great representative of the people, a conser- 



LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 277 

vative power held by them to guard both 
public and industrial liberty ; — reflecting 
their opinions and judgments in all matters 
respecting the public weal, exposing wrong, 
and vindicating and encouraging the right. 
In writing for the newspapers of America, 
many of the ablest men are employed, and 
the leading writer for each journal is called 
an Editor. He is frequently the sole pro- 
prietor, sometimes only owns a few shares 
in the enterprise, and then again he may 
be hired to perform a specific editorial duty. 
He is responsible for the opinions expressed, 
and when necessary, as is always the case 
in the larger establishments, he is assisted 
in his labors by sub-editors, who look after 
all matters connected with commerce or 
literature; by reporters, who prepare the 
proceedings of public assemblies ; and by 
correspondents, who furnish information on 
every subject of public interest. Weekly 
papers are commonly published on Saturday 
of each week, and daily papers in the morn- 
ing or evening; and as most of the latest 



278 LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 

news is received through the telegraph, it 
is frequently the case that an evening pa- 
per will publish information of an event 
which may have taken place in Europe, on 
the morning of the same clay. With regard 
to what is called the liberty of the press, 
in times of peace, it is quite unbounded ; 
so much so, indeed, that the rights of pri- 
vate citizens are not always respected ; but 
while an editor mav not be interfered with 
by the Government, for expressing his 
opinions, provided they are not immoral, it 
is too often the case that his real indepen- 
dence is materially affected by the allure- 
ments or dictation of the political party to 
which he belongs. And then again, the 
habit of dealing in personalities is perhaps 
more prevalent among the newspaper wri- 
ters of America, than among any other peo- 
ple; the excesses in this direction, some- 
times lead to bitter conflicts and even to 
untimely deaths ; but it is certain, that all 
the more notorious abuses of the press are 
frowned upon by the better classes in every 



LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 279 

community. Notwithstanding its many 
drawbacks, the conclusion is inevitable, 
that the press of America is the leading 
civilizer of its multifarious population, and 
the particular engine which has brought 
about the present prosperous condition, of 
the Republic. 

Our next topic for consideration is the 
artistic life of America, as we find it devel- 
oped in the pursuits of painting, sculpture, 
and architecture. The number of persons 
engaged in these various employments is 
not large, but they are necessarily men of 
culture ; exert a great influence in devel- 
oping the taste of the people generally; and 
they congregate and find employment chief- 
ty in the larger cities. The painters are of 
several kinds, viz : Portrait painters, His- 
torical painters, Landscape painters, and 
various subordinate classes who produce 
miscellaneous pictures. The materials most 
commonly used are oil colors and canvas ; 
and while the majority of these artists man- 
age to support themselves in comfort, those 



280 LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE, 

who happen to become fashionable or pos- 
sess extraordinary ability, frequently meet 
with great success. While it is true that 
good portraits may be obtained for fifty or 
one hundred dollars, it is also true that five 
thousand dollars is not an uncommon price 
for very superior portraits ; and, according 
to circumstances, the prices paid for pic- 
tures of Scenery, range from fifty dollars 
to ten thousand dollars. In these two de- 
partments, the American artists are perhaps 
equal to those of Europe ; — but with regard 
to historical painting, the English, French 
and German artists are all in advance of 
the Americans. Generally speaking, be- 
fore a man can become expert in the art 
of painting, he has to acquire a knowledge 
of drawing, and this study has come to be 
so common and popular that many artists 
confine themselves to drawing alone and 
hence the kind of pictures known as en- 
gravings, which are merely copies of draw- 
ings as well as paintings, have almost a 
universal circulation. They are executed 



LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 281 

on steel, on copper, on stone, and on wood, 
and used extensively in books and weekly 
and monthly periodicals. To what extent 
this is true, is shown by the fact that a sin- 
gle illustrated journal published in New 
York, is said to have a circulation of three 
hundred thousand copies. And then again, 
large numbers of engravings are prepared 
and published, which are used for the adorn- 
ment of the houses of the people, as is the 
case with paintings, as well as photographs, 
and chromo-lithographs, which latter class- 
es of pictures have come to be more popu- 
lar than any others. The custom of hang- 
ing pictures on the walls of the houses is a 
leading characteristic among the Ameri- 
cans ; and while the poor mechanic or far- 
mer may be content with a few cheap en- 
gravings or photographs, men of wealth are 
very much in the habit of spending thou- 
sands upon thousands of dollars, for works 
of art of the highest order. Many of the 
private collections thus formed are really of 
a princely character ; and then, in all the 



282 LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE, 

leading cities, they have extensive public 
collections of pictures, with which are com- 
monly associated certain schools for impart- 
ing a practical knowledge of the fine arts. 
The extent to which the General Govern- 
ment patronizes the art of painting is limi- 
ted to a few historical productions, includ- 
ing compositions and portraits to be found 
in the Capitol and Executive Mansion. 

As the art of sculpture is far less popu- 
lar among the people, than that of painting, 
we find the sculptors reduced to a small 
number. Among them, however, are to be 
found some few men of great abilities and 
extensive reputations. It is claimed, in- 
deed, that the United States has gained, in 
sculpture, a far higher rank than in any of 
the fine arts. The w r orks here produced, 
are generally executed in white marble, 
though sometimes in bronze, and in the 
great majority of instances represent the 
busts or full length figures of distinguished 
men. This style of art is always expensive, 
and it is only the rich who can- afford to 



LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 283 

perpetuate the features of their family 
friends in this manner. When intended 
for exhibition in private dwellings, or in 
galleries of art, these productions are usu- 
ally of the size of life, but when intended 
for the adornment of private gardens or 
public grounds, they are of colossal size, 
and noted military men are occasionally 
represented mounted on horses. The chief 
patrons of this kind of art are the National 
and State Governments, and hence busts 
and statues are to be found, stationed to 
some extent, in the public buildings in 
Washington and in the capitals of the sev- 
eral States. In the National Capitol, a 
large and handsome hall has been appropri- 
ated entirely to the reception of busts and 
statues of celebrated statesmen and mili- 
tary and naval commanders ; — and in this 
connection, a law has been passed, granting 
the privilege to each State in the Union, to 
send to this central exhibition-place, a por- 
trait in marble, of any two men, which the 
State authorities may choose to honor in 



284 LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 

this manner. When copies of marble or 
bronze productions are desired by private 
individuals, and the means of the person 
wanting them are limited, it is frequently 
the case that a kind of white plaster is used 
as a substitute for the more enduring ma- 
terials ; and this composition is employed, 
to a great extent, in reproducing the ancient 
and more celebrated works of sculpture in 
Europe, which are brought to America to 
serve as models in the art schools of the 
country. 

We come now to speak of what has been 
done in the United States in the way of 
architecture. In the early years of the 
country the abundance of wood, and the 
ease of preparing it, made it the universal 
building material, and for a long time hard- 
ly anything else was used, although for 
buildings of importance brick was brought 
from England. The haste to get shelter, 
and the availability of wood, make this 
still the common material — almost the only 
one used — in the new cities of the Western 



LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 285 

States and Territories. The recent terrible 
fire at Chicago, is an illustration in part, of 
this fact, and of the evils of building with 
wood alone. But within the present cen- 
tury much brick has been made, and stone 
quarries have been opened all over the 
country. In the older cities, brick and 
stone in connection with iron, are now al- 
most entirely employed, certain varieties of 
stone being used for all the most important 
buildings. The New England States furn- 
ish a great deal of granite and sienite, which 
are very strong and durable stones, but 
too hard and rough for finely cut or orna- 
mental work. There is much sandstone in 
the Middle States, and in the West are 
many kinds of sand and limestone which 
are easily cut, and receive readily the rich- 
est ornamentation. There is also through- 
out the United States a great variety of 
white and colored marbles, much used in 
ornamental and decorative work ; and many 
elaborate buildings are built of them. 

Before the present century architects 



286 LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 

were few in America and of little skill ; 
buildings were designed, for the most part, 
by the men who built them. But the gain 
of the community in wealth and leisure has 
greatly developed the profession in the 
present generation. The earlier architects 
worked only by English traditions, which 
were, in their turn, derived from the Italian 
architects of the sixteenth and seventeenth 
centuries. The earlier architects of this 
country usually obtained their professional 
education in Europe, where the advantages 
were numerous ; at the present time, how- 
ever, young Americans find excellent op- 
portunities in the offices of the better trained 
architects at home. The multiplication of 
prints, photographs and casts in plaster 
from the best old examples, have greatly 
facilitated study ; schools of architecture 
have been established in several of the 
educational institutions of the country; and 
in New York, they have an American In- 
stitute of Architects, which is represented 
in all the leading cities of the country by 






LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 287 

what they call " Chapters," and which are 
said to exercise an important influence 
within their proper sphere. The styles of 
architecture employed in America are as 
various as possible, but perhaps the kind 
of buildings in which the United States 
architects are most successful, is that of 
wooden villas, which are often both beauti- 
ful and convenient. It has been charged 
against the Americans, that in regard to 
architecture, if nothing else, they lay more 
stress upon the idea of a conventional 
beauty, than upon substantial usefulness. 
A church may be beautiful to the eye, but 
filled with uncomfortable seats and a per- 
petual darkness ; a public building may be 
very ornamental, but badly ventilated; and 
a dwelling may appear like a palace, and 
in reality be without a single comfort. 
Notwithstanding the immense amounts of 
money which are annually expended in 
America upon fine buildings, it is claimed 
that there is much room for improvement ; 
and it is a creditable truth, that a great im- 



288 LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 

petus has recently been given to the art of 
architecture by the patronage of the Gene- 
ral Government, whose buildings are nume- 
rous, and among the most extensive and 
imposing in the Republic. In this connec- 
tion one fact which seems amazing, and 
is indeed a subject of remark, is this : — 
that there now stands in the city of Wash- 
ington a monument to the memory of George 
Washington, who is called the Father of 
his Country, w 7 hich was commenced a quar- 
ter of a century ago, and is yet unfinished, 
and a painful spectacle to all the world. 

We come now to speak of science in 
America, but before doing so it may be 
proper to make some remarks in regard to 
science in general. The term science, in 
its more restricted sense, is a knowledge of 
the laws of nature, or how the changes in 
the natural world are produced. In a 
more general sense, it is used to include 
descriptive natural history, from which it 
differs in this, that the latter classifies and 
describes things or objects in nature, as they 



LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 289 

exist, without considering their origin or 
the changes to which they are subjected. 
Science, then, although founded on the re- 
sults of experiments and observations, does 
not consist in collections of isolated facts 
but in general principles from which spe- 
cial facts can be deduced when certain con- 
ditions are known. Thus the phenomena 
of astronomy are all referred to principles 
which are denominated the laws of force 
and motion. By means of these laws, 
if the relative mass, position and velocity 
of the heavenly bodies are known at a given 
epoch, their relative position for all times, 
in the remotest past as well as in the distant 
future, can be calculated. Other phenom- 
ena are referred to other laws, such as those 
of light, heat, electricity, navigation, chem- 
ical action, life and organization. These 
laws are generally expressed in the form of 
theories, by which they can be more readily 
understood and applied, either in the way 
of practical inventions or in the discovery 
of new truths. The knowledge of a law of 



290 LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 

nature enables the savant to explain, pre- 
dict, and in some cases to control the phe- 
nomena to which these laws pertain. These 
characteristics of science afford the means 
of clearly distinguishing between the ex- 
pressions of real truths or laws, and the 
mere vague speculations with which the 
principles of science are often confounded. 
It is by the discovery and application of 
these laws that modern civilization differs 
essentially from that of ancient times, and 
also from the civilization of China and Ja- 
pan. In these countries the arts of life are 
based upon facts accidentally discovered, 
which lie, as it were, on the face of nature, 
are few in number and soon exhausted. 
While in Europe and North America the 
various inventions which add so much to 
the material well-being of man, are derived 
from the endless stores of facts deduced 
from scientific principles. It is by a know- 
ledge of the law of gravitation, heat, elec- 
tricity and chemical action that these powers 
are rendered obedient and efficient slaves 



LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 291 

by which man emancipates himself from 
the bondage of brute labors, to which 
in ancient times he was universally sub- 
jected; while by a knowledge of the laws 
of light and of sound, the infirmities of age 
are remedied, and the range of human 
senses indefinitely extended. By the con- 
stant study of the phenomena of nature, 
irrespective of the use which may flow from 
them, our knowledge is continually increas- 
ed, while from the discovery of every new 
principle in science, many applications in art 
usually follow. It is this which is under- 
stood by the Baconian aphorism — " Knowl- 
edge is power." There are at the present 
time in all parts of the civilized world men 
who are devoting their thoughts and time 
to the investigations of the various phe- 
nomena of nature, and through the inter- 
course which is established between all 
parts of the world, the discoveries made by 
each, become the knowledge of all, and in 
this way science is rapidly increasing. 
Moreover, whatever is discovered in one 



292 LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 

portion of the domain of nature, as a gene- 
ral rule, tends to reflect light on various 
other portions, and also to furnish instru- 
ments for more extended and varied re- 
search. 

It is evident, from the foregoing remarks, 
that the country is most highly civilized, — 
at least in one direction, — which makes the 
best provision for the investigation of ab- 
stract science. Of all nations at present 
existing, Prussia appears to be the most 
advanced in this respect. Whenever an 
individual is found capable of making orig- 
inal discoveries in that country, he is at 
once consecrated to science. He is elec- 
ted a higher professor in one of the Univer- 
sities, receives a liberal salary, is supplied 
with all the implements necessary for re- 
search in his special line, and is allowed 
full time for his investigations; being re- 
quired to give but few lectures on higher 
subjects, while the teaching and the drill- 
ing of pupils are performed by men of infe- 
rior talents. In the United States, where 



LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 293 

so much is to be done in the way of subdu- 
ing nature, and developing the resources of 
a new country, there has been consequent- 
ly, a great demand for the application of 
science, and less attention has been given, 
until of late, to encourage and sustain orig- 
inal investigation. 

One effect of the general diffusion of edu- 
cation in the United States, especially in 
New England, has been to render the peo- 
ple impatient, as to mere manual labor, and 
hence, from the scarcity of laborers, and 
the great demand for them, a large amount 
of talent has been devoted to the invention 
of labor-saving machines. There are no 
people in the world who make so many in- 
ventions as the Americans, which fact is 
evinced by the number and variet}' of mod- 
els in the Patent office. There is, however, 
a growing inclination on the part of the 
Government and of wealthy individuals to 
endow establishments for the advance of 
pure science. The Government has estab- 
lished the National Observatory, which is 



294 LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 

supported at an annual expense of not less 
than seventy-five thousand dollars, and in 
which the motions of the heavenly bodies 
are continuously studied, new facts ob- 
served, and new deductions from them con- 
stantly made. There has also been estab- 
lished a Bureau for the calculation of a 
Nautical Almanac, the object of which is 
to furnish mariners with the means for de- 
termining their position on the ocean, while 
it also contributes to the advance of science 
by original mathematical deductions from 
facts which have been observed. An ex- 
tended work called the Coast Survey has 
likewise been established, the object of 
which is to furnish accurate maps, by 
means of astronomical determinations, of the 
whole coast of the country, but which also, 
is developing, in its operations, new facts 
of the highest interest to science. Among 
those are the laws of the variation, direc- 
tion and intensity of terrestrial magnetism — 
the form and dimensions of the earth — the 
variation of the force of terrestrial gravita- 



LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 29 5 

tion on the different portions of the earth's 
surface — the knowledge of organized beings 
which live at the bottom of the ocean, 
within soundings — and the temperature, 
motion and magnitude of the Gulf stream, 
which, in passing across the Atlantic ocean, 
moderates the temperature, and gives a 
genial climate to the north of Europe. An- 
other of the Government establishments 
which advances science is the office of 
Weights and Measures, in which a series 
of investigations are carried on, for deter- 
mining the expansion of bodies and the 
best manner of making accurate standards 
of measure, of length, weight and capac- 
ity. The Government also has its schools 
of applied science ; — one, at West Point, 
for the education of officers of the Army 
in all things pertaining to military life and 
operations; and another at Annapolis, for 
the education of Naval officers in all mat- 
ters connected with the naval service. Of 
late years, moreover, numerous surveys 
and explorations have been made at the ex- 



296 LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 

pense of the Government across the Conti- 
nent, which have tended, not only to de- 
velop the resources of the country, but 
have afforded means for the critical study 
of the geology, mineralogy and natural his- 
tory of the regions traversed, and which 
have resulted in the construction of the 
celebrated railroad between the Atlantic 
and Pacific oceans. In many of the older 
States of the Union there have been insti- 
tuted geological surveys, which, while they 
have served to discover the peculiar mine- 
ral treasures, within the State limits, have 
greatly added to the science of Geology as 
well as to Natural History. The ostensi- 
ble object of all these establishments of the 
General Government, as well as those of the 
separate States, is practical utility, although 
abstract science is greatly advanced by 
means of them. 

In various parts of the country astronom- 
ical observatories have been erected in con- 
nection with some of the principal Univer- 
sities and Colleges, but in them, with but 



LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 297 

few exceptions, original investigations are 
subordinate to the business of education. 
There are also connected with the higher 
institutions of learning, scientific schools, 
the object of which is generally to teach 
the principles of science, as far as they are 
applicable to civil and mining engineering, 
and the various manufactures which depend 
upon a knowledge of chemistry and physics. 
The professors in Universities and Colleges 
are the principal contributors to the scien- 
tific journals of the day, in which the pro- 
gress of science is recorded. There is no 
civilized country in which there appears to 
be a greater taste for a knowledge of gen- 
eral scientific results or in which a greater 
number of popular scientific works are read 
than in the United States. At the same 
time, there is scarcely any country in which 
original talents, applied to pure scientific 
investigation, meet with less reward. In 
France and other European countries, there 
are Academies of Science, consisting of a 
limited number of the most distinguished 



298 LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 

individuals, and supported by Government, 
each member receiving a salary besides 
marks of social distinction. To become a 
member of one of these academies is an ob- 
ject of the highest ambition, to which is 
directed the best mind of the community. 
In Great Britain there are no such acade- 
mies, yet the Government makes yearly 
grants for scientific investigations, and in- 
dividuals, distinguished for their scientific 
discoveries, not only receive pensions, but 
are honored by the titles of barons and 
knights. No adequate inducements are yet 
held out in the United States, as a stimulus 
to scientific investigation, but for scientific 
invention or the application of science to 
useful arts, there is frequently an abundant 
remuneration. Notwithstanding these draw- 
backs, much has been done and is doing, in 
the way of advancing science, as is evinced 
by the Transactions of the American Phil- 
osophical Society of Philadelphia, of the 
American Academy of Arts and Sciences of 
Boston, the publications of the Smithsonian 



LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 299 

Institution, and of the Natural History 
Societies and Academies of Boston, Salem, 
Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, and 
New Orleans. All these institutions were 
established and are sustained by private in- 
dividuals. To the above may be added the 
American Journal of Science in New Haven, 
and the Journal of the Franklin Institute 
of Philadelphia. 

A large portion of the scientific labor of 
the United States has been devoted to de- 
scriptive natural history, to which attention 
was invited by the almost unbounded field 
which was presented for study in the 
mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms, 
and because a knowledge derived from these 
was intimately connected with the devel- 
opment of the wealth and prosperity of the 
country. Science should, however, be stu- 
died for its own sake, without regard to its 
immediate application, since nothing tends 
more to extend the bounds of thought, 
to add to the intellectual powers of man, 
and to raise him in the scale of intelligence 



300 LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 

than the study and contemplation of the 
operations of nature ; and we are happy to 
think that, as we have said before, there is 
in this great country a growing apprecia- 
tion of the importance of abstract science, 
and that many institutions in various parts 
of it will be established through the en- 
lightened policy of wealthy individuals 
for its cultivation and advancement. A 
conspicuous example of what has been done 
in this line is the Smithsonian Institution, 
founded in Washington by James Smithson, 
of England, for the increase and diffusion 
of knowledge among men. The founder 
was devoted to scientific investigation, and 
under the impulse of his ruling passion, 
bequeathed his entire property for a similar 
purpose. It is as yet the only well en- 
dowed institution in America which is in- 
tended exclusively for the advancement of 
abstract science. But through the influ- 
ence which it has attained, by the perse- 
vering effort of its director, Prof. Joseph 
Henry, and the example which it- has set, 



LITERARY, ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC LIFE. 301 

it is thought that other institutions of a 
similar character will be founded. Indeed, 
several wealthy individuals have already, 
independently of each other, made appro- 
priations for scientific investigations. Fore- 
most among these in liberality, and more 
especially as a man of science, may be men- 
tioned Prof. A. D. Bache, the late Super- 
intendent of the Coast Survey, who left the 
sum of fifty thousand dollars for scientific 
experiments and observations, the first pro- 
ceeds of which are now being devoted to a 
magnetic survey of the United States, the 
results of which will be published and dis- 
tributed to all parts of the world. 



PART NINTH 



LIFE AMONG THE MINERS 



It is now generally acknowledged that 
the mineral resources of the United States 
are more extensive and varied than those 
of any other country in the world. Indeed, 
to give anything like a minute account of 
them, would fill many volumes, and there- 
fore, with a view of being brief, we propose 
to submit a few facts on the leading mine- 
ral productions of the country, beginning 
with the precious metals. 

Gold has been found in about one half of 
the States of the Union. Prior to the year 
1848 this metal, as well as silver, was chiefly 
obtained from Virginia, Tennessee, the Car- 
olinas and Georgia; at the present time the 
States of California, Oregon and Nevada 



306 LIFE AMONG THE MINERS. 

and the Territories of Washington, Idaho, 
Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, 
Dakota and Wyoming, are by far the most 
productive gold-fields on the globe, and 
throughout all this region, many other val- 
uable minerals are found, but silver is the 
most important. At the time of the great 
discoveries in California, the annual pro- 
duction of the whole world was only twenty 
millions of dollars, but in seven years from 
that time, California alone yielded sixty 
millions, and its recent annual production 
has been fixed at eighty millions of dollars. 
The total gold and silver product of the 
United States down to the year 1868, was 
estimated at $1,255,000,000, and never be- 
fore in the history of the world have so few 
people established so extensive a business. 
The region where gold is found covers 
an area of one million square miles and 
is chiefly the property of the nation. Hand- 
washing, as we have been informed by a 
man of experience in these matters, was 
the earliest mode of collecting gold, and 



LIFE AMOXG THE MINERS. 307 

the pan and the rocker were the first im- 
plements used in California mining. Quick- 
silver was soon employed to collect the fine 
particles, often lost in hand-w T ashing. Hy- 
draulic mining, now largely used in Cali- 
fornia, is done by throwing currents of 
water, from hose and pipes, with enormous 
force against banks of earth, cutting away 
whole hills. Down the face of the hills, 
also, pour artificial streams. At the foot, 
the waters all pass away in long flumes or 
wooden troughs, carrying the earth and 
stones with them. Slats on the bottom of 
the flumes catch and retain the gold ; and 
where gold is found in hard quartz, the 
stones are ground to powder by machinery 
and stamp-mills, and the gold thus comes 
to the light, and quicksilver separates it 
from the dust. Silver is never found like 
gold, in grains among the sand, but in ores 
or quartz, from which it has to be reduced 
by stamping or grinding or by smelting. 
It is found in a variety of ores, usually 
associated with gold, copper or lead. Pure 



308 LIFE AMONG THE MINERS. 

masses are occasionally found among the 
copper mines of Lake Superior, and also in 
Nevada and Idaho. The discovery of the 
rich deposits of gold and silver in California 
gave new impetus to the movements of 
population everywhere, stimulated all de- 
partments of industry, brought together 
into the same communities people from 
every part of the globe, settled the vast 
territories of the United States, facilitated 
intercourse between the nations, and, with 
the mining operations in Australia, has 
steadily changed values throughout the 
world. 

But, notwithstanding the immense amount 
of treasure that has been taken from the 
soils and rocks of California and other Pa- 
cific States, the business of mining has not 
been profitable with the majority of miners. 
Indeed it is said that during the last fifteen 
years, the farmers of Illinois have more 
frequently made fortunes than have the 
gold hunters of the West. In 1865 a miner 
of California named Jules Fricot realized 



LIFE AMONG THE MINEKS. 309 

the sum of $182,511 by quartz mining, and 
since then a man named James P. Pierce, 
from placer mine obtained in one year the 
sum of $102,011, — but these were excep- 
tional cases. The cost of living at the 
mines is always expensive and the accom- 
modations anything but comfortable. At the 
general eating houses which are established 
among the mines, they commonly charge 
one dollar for a single meal, and twelve dol- 
lars per week for board, — the sleeping ac- 
commodations being a bare floor and a pair 
of blankets. According to the latest au- 
thentic data, the number of miners in Cali- 
fornia alone was 46,550, of whom 20,800 
were Chinese, and the wages of these men 
ranged from three to five dollars per day. 
The national laws bearing upon the mining 
region of the Pacific Slope are not, as yet, 
what they should be; but those which 
have been enacted provide for two classes 
of miners, — those who are licensed to work 
upon the public domain, and those who be- 
come actual proprietors by purchase from 



310 LIFE AMONG THE MINERS. 

the Government. The right is also granted 
to men, to purchase and work such mines 
as they may discover ; and as to the min- 
ing customs, — mandatory edicts are passed, 
at twenty-four hours' notice by from five to 
five hundred men, which, for the time being, 
are the law of the land. 

And now,* in* closing these remarks, let 
us glance at what has been said in regard 
to the distribution of the precious metals. 
The drain of them has hitherto been toward 
the East, where they are used for hoarding 
and for ornaments, rather than for money. 
This is particularly true of silver. Between 
the years 1850 and 1864, there were ex- 
ported to Asia from England and the Med- 
iterranean more than $650,000,000. The 
total amount of silver in the world is esti- 
mated at $10,000,000,000, or only enough 
to pay the debts of three or four of the 
leading nations of the present time. The 
coining of gold and silver, as well as cop- 
per, was commenced by the United States 
in 1793, and the total product of each metal, 



LIFE AMONG THE MINERS. 311 

down to the middle of 1870, was as follows : 
Gold, $971,628,046 ; silver, $143,760,474; 
and copper, $11,009,048, or a grand total 
of $1,126,397,569. 

Of the baser metals, which have hitherto 
been employed in the coining of money, 
copper is the most important. Its most 
valuable alloy is brass, out of which a very 
large number of useful things are manufac- 
tured. Another alloy, known as " French 
Gold," is extensively used in the manufac- 
ture of cheap jewelry and watches. Cop- 
per is found in ores and in a metallic state, 
and was first mined on the American Con- 
tinent in New England. It has been work- 
ed in seven or eight of the United States, 
but, practically, all the copper product of 
the Union, comes from Lake Superior, 
which was almost an unknown wilderness 
as late as the year 1843. It is found in a 
ridge of trap rock, on the shores belonging 
to Michigan, and masses of the solid metal 
have been discovered weighing several tons. 
The mines were opened there in 1845, 



312 BIFE AMONG THE MINERS. 

since which time the total yield has been 
not far from one hundred and fifty thousand 
tons. It is extracted from its ores by 
smelting and calcination, and prepared for 
the market in ingots, which are converted 
into sheets by rolling mills established 
chiefly in the Atlantic States. Situated as 
are the copper mines of Michigan, in a re- 
gion where the winters are long and the sum- 
mers short, the miners are subject to many 
hardships from the cold, and to many pri- 
vations in the way of bodily comforts. A 
large proportion of them are men who have 
had experience in the mines of Great Brit- 
ain and other countries, and their compen- 
sation is not on a par with their habits of 
industry and their experience, but the quan- 
tity of metal which they obtain from the 
earth and send to market is very large. 

Next in importance to the precious metals, 
come the coal productions of the United 
States, the two prominent varieties of which 
bear the names of Anthracite and Bitumin- 
ous. The largest producer of both, is the 



LIFE AMONG THE MINERS. 313 

State of Pennsylvania ; and in the produc- 
tion of the former, Rhode Island stands sec- 
ond; and Ohio occupies the second posi- 
tion in regard to bituminous coal. The 
area of workable coal-beds in the Uni- 
ted States, excluding Alaska, is estimated 
at two hundred thousand square miles, 
which is said to be eight times as large as 
the available coal area of all the rest of the 
world. The coal veins are usually reached 
by vertical shafts, but when found in hills, 
are worked by horizontal galleries. Not- 
withstanding the fact that perpendicular 
shafts are employed to secure thorough 
ventillation, and safety lamps are used to 
prevent the ignition of the fatal fire damp, 
many serious accidents have happened in 
the mines of Pennsylvania. The first rail- 
way for the transmission of coal from the 
mines was built in 1827, and the coal mines 
now give employment to more than forty 
railroads and canals. It is a common occur- 
rence for a train of one hundred cars to en- 
ter the city of Philadelphia, loaded with 



314 LIFE AMONG THE MINEES. 

anthracite, and the same may be said of 
Baltimore, which is the principal exporting 
place for bituminous coal. f lhe total pro- 
duct of the United States for the year 1868 
was about 19,000,000 tons, valued at $26,- 
000,000, since which time these figures 
have been increased, and are still increas- 
ing. It is now seventy years since anthra- 
cite coal was used as fuel in this country, 
and about forty years since it began to be 
extensively mined in the United States ; 
and it has been stated by authentic writers 
on the subject, that the Coal Fields of the 
United States are thirty-six times greater 
than those of Great Britain, while the annual 
production of Britain is five times greater 
than that of the United States. The reasons 
for this great difference are apparent. In 
many of the States of the Union, the climate 
is so mild, that no coal is needed for domes- 
tic purposes, and when fuel is demanded for 
manufacturing purposes, there is always to 
be obtained an abundant supply of wood. 
And then again, excepting the New Eng- 



LIFE AMONG THE MINERS. 315 

land, the Middle, and some of the Western 
States, where prairies abound, the forests 
are so numerous that it must be many years 
before coal will become a necessity among 
the people. Indeed, the very remarkable 
fact has been chronicled, that in some of 
the Western States, where agriculture is 
the chief source of wealth, the article known 
as maize or Indian con, has been employed 
as fuel. If, however, we find that a large 
proportion of the inhabitants in America, 
have no immediate interest in the produc- 
tion of coal, it is at the same time true, that 
a very large part of the population are con- 
sumers of what is called coal oil or petro- 
leum. Although long known to the scien- 
tific world, this article did not become 
known to the commercial world until 1858. 
It is found in various parts of the country, 
but more extensively in Western Pennsyl- 
vania than in any other region, where very 
large fortunes have been made by persons 
engaged in drawing the precious liquid out 
of the earth. It is obtained by means of 



316 LIFE AMONG THE MINERS. 

artesian wells, which are sunk from one 
hundred to six hundred feet into the earth, 
and some of which have yielded with the 
aid of forcing pumps, as much as two thou- 
sand barrels of oil in a single day. The 
applications of petroleum are chiefly limited 
to purposes of illumination and lubricating 
machinery, and for the latter purpose the 
consumption is very large on the railroads 
and in the manufactories. A distillation 
of this oil is also used in the manufacture 
of certain kinds of leather, and in the pre- 
paration of paints and varnishes. This 
trade in rock oil has become very extensive, 
and is every day becoming more and more 
highly appreciated, as a servant of civiliza- 
tion; the revenue which it produces being 
of great magnitude, and the number of peo- 
ple which it supports very numerous. 

The next important mineral product that 
we have to notice is iron, recognized as the 
most useful known to man. It is more 
widely distributed throughout the United 
States than any of the important, metals ; 



LIFE AMONG THE MINERS. 317 

is found in abundance in New York, New 
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
Maryland and Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, 
Oregon, Virginia, the Carolinas, Alabama, 
and Missouri ; but is chiefly mined in Penn- 
sylvania and New Jersey, where the yield is 
more than one-half of the whole product in 
the United States, or about seven hundred 
tons per annum, from one hundred and thir- 
ty establishments. In Missouri it is found 
in great abundance, where there is a hill 
called "Iron Mountain," which is more than 
two hundred feet high, and is supposed to 
contain two hundred and fifty millions of 
tons of pure metal. Another, well nigh solid 
iron mountain is called "Pilot Knob," nearly 
six hundred feet high, and it is thought 
would furnish one million tons per annum 
for two hundred years. These two moun- 
tains, with another called Shepherd's moun- 
tian also in Missouri, are considered among 
the curiosities of America. And yet with 
these figures before us, the astounding fact 
is proclaimed that nearly half a million tons 



318 LIFE AMONG THE MINERS. 

of iron were imported from Great Britain in 
1868, while the yield of the United States 
was about sixteen hundred thousand tons. 
But the fact that there should be any iron 
imported from England, grows out of the 
operations of the American Tariff. The 
great magnitude and importance of the iron 
interest, which can only be fully treated in 
elaborate volumes, is rendered difficult to 
notice in a paragraph like the present. The 
processes by which the ores are turned into 
metallic iron are as follows : — in what are 
called Bloomeries and Forges the ores are 
converted directly into mailable iron with- 
out passing through the intermediate stage 
of cast or pig iron ; — and by means of Blast 
Furnaces, the ores are decomposed as they 
fuse in vast quantities at a time and pro- 
duce the cast or pig iron ; — and then they 
have what are called Rolling Mills which 
convert the iron into sheets and plates. 
With' regard to the uses to which iron is 
appropriated in the United States, they are 
well-nigh infinite ; and we can only obtain 



LIFE AMONG THE MINERS. 319 

an idea of the extent of its consumption, 
by reflecting upon the quantity of it which 
is transferred into steel, for cutlery and 
machinery; upon the extensive lines of 
railway in the country and the great num- 
ber of locomotives employed; and upon 
manifold uses in connection with shipping 
and house-building throughout the length 
and breadth of this immense country. 

We come now to speak of the production 
of lead in the United States. The two 
most prominent deposits of this useful min- 
eral are to be found in the States of Mis- 
souri and Illinois. The working of the 
former was commenced in 1854 and the 
latter in 1788. The largest supply comes 
from those two States, although it is also 
found in abundance in Wisconsin and Iowa. 
The American lead is remarkable for its 
softness and purity, and although obtained 
with comparative ease, excepting what is 
mined in Illinois and Iowa, it is not easily 
transported to market. The total produc- 
tion of the Union, during the year 1869, 



320 LIFE AMONG THE MINERS. 

was estimated at thirty-eight millions of 
pounds, while Spain produced about sixty- 
seven millions, and Great Britain more 
than one hundred and fifty-three millions 
of pounds ; — and the imports into the Uni- 
ted States greatly exceed the domestic 
product. The uses to which the metal is 
applied are very numerous and highly im- 
portant. One of the most useful applica- 
tions of lead is in the manufacture of the 
carbonate, which is extensively used as a 
white paint, and also as a body for other 
colors. The smelting of lead and the man- 
ufacture of the white paint therefrom, are 
considered prejudicial to health, and the 
workmen suifer much from colic and par- 
alysis. 

Another of the more important minerals 
found in the United States, in almost inex- 
haustable quantities is Quicksilver. It is 
chiefly mined in California, where the annual 
product is considerably more than half the 
yield of the whole world beside, the total 
annual yield having been about six hundred 



LIFE AMONG THE MINERS. 321 

thousand pounds. Until recently the mines 
of Spain controlled the Chinese market, 
but the miners of California shipped a large 
amount to Hong Kong, where they sold it 
far below cost, and the supply from Spain 
was driven back to that country. The Eng- 
lish market is now supplied by Spain and 
the Chinese market by California. Besides 
the countries named, Austria and Peru furn- 
ish a small supply of this valuable mineral. 
The chief demand for it is for mining pur- 
poses, and for the manufacture of calomel 
and Vermillion. 

With regard to the metals known as tin, 
zinc, platinum, nickel, antimony, cobalt, 
and other minor metals, they are all found 
in various parts of the United States, but 
none of them have as yet been mined to 
any great extent. With the increase of 
population and railways, it is supposed that 
the business of mining will grow into a 
gigantic national interest, and that America 
will lead the world in the value and variety 
of her mineral products. The National 



322 LIFE AMONG THE MINERS. 

Government, within the last few years, has 
done much to develop the hidden resources 
of the land, by sending forth competent 
scientific expeditions, and publishing their 
results for the benefit of the public ; and 
the people themselves have manifested their 
interest in the subject by establishing and 
supporting a number of well-conducted jour- 
nals devoted wholly to Mining Engineering. 
In taking a general survey of the mining 
population of America we cannot but con- 
clude that they are noted for their intelli- 
gence, and in view of the hardship and 
privations which they undergo, are not as 
well paid as they should be, although better 
paid than the mining people of other coun- 
tries. A very large proportion of them, 
however, are foreigners, and as they have 
generally improved their condition by emi- 
grating to this country they are contented 
with their lot. Those of them who are 
engaged in mining coal, iron, lead, and cop- 
per, in the older States of the Union, have 
facilities for the education of their' children 



LIFE AMONG THE MINEKS. 323 

at common schools, but in the frontier 
States and Territories, where the precious 
metals are chiefly found, family men are 
not abundant, and the opportunities for 
making them comfortable, and educating 
the young, are few and far between. 



PART TENTH 



LIFE IN THE ARMY AND NAVY 



The standing army of the United States 
began with the foundation of the Govern- 
ment in 1789, but when necessary it has 
always been customary to employ what is 
called a volunteer force or army. During 
the war of the Revolution the number of 
soldiers employed was 275,000; in the war 
of 1812 the combined troops numbered 
527,631 ; during the Seminole war of 1817, 
5,611; Black Hawk war of 1832, 5,031; 
Florida war of 1842, 29,953; war with 
Mexico in 1846, 73,260; miscellaneous 
troubles, about 20,000 ; and during the late 
Civil war the forces in the field, at one time, 
numbered 2,688,523. The total amount of 
money expended by the United States in 



328 LIFE IN THE AKMY AND NAVY. 

carrying on its various wars was $3,308,- 
352,706. 

The Regular Army of the United States is 
at present constituted as follows : 1 General; 
3 Major-Generals ; 16 Brigadier-Generals ; 
68 Colonels; 83 Lieutenant-Colonels; 271 
Majors; 36 Aides-de-Camp ; 532 Captains; 
40 Adjutants, (extra Lieutenants;) 40 Reg- 
imental Quartermasters, (extra Lieuten- 
ants ;) 682 First Lieutenants ; 455 Second 
Lieutenants ; 34 Chaplains ; 29 Military 
Store-keepers ; 5 Medical Store-keepers ; 
40 Sergeant-Majors; 40 Quartermaster- 
Sergeants ; 40 Chief Musicians ; 60 Princi- 
pal Musicians ; 10 Saddler-Sergeants; 10 
Chief Trumpeters; 151 Ordnance-Sergeants; 
362 Hospital Stewards; 430 First Ser- 
geants ; 430 Company Quartermaster-Ser- 
geants ; 1947 Sergeants; 1837 Corporals; 
240 Trumpeters ; 654 Musicians; 240 Far- 
riers or Blacksmiths ; 620 Artificers ; 120 
Saddlers; 430 Wagoners; 300 Privates of 
the 1st Class, (Ordnance and Engineers ;) 
299 Privates of the 2d Class, (Ordnance 



LIFE IN THE ARMY AND NAVY. 329 

and Engineers ;) 22,100 Privates ; also one 
Battalion Sergeant-Major and one Battalion 
Quartermaster-Sergeant ; making the whole 
number of commissioned officers 2,263, and 
the whole number of enlisted men 30,000. 
There are besides at the United States 
Military Academy, 8 Professors and 241 
Cadets, making the total commissioned and 
enlisted, 32,512. The Army is sub-divided 
into 10 regiments of Cavalry, 5 regiments 
of Artillery, 25 regiments of Infantry, 
and the Engineer Battalion. Each regi- 
ment of Cavalry has 1 Colonel, 1 Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel, 3 Majors, 1 Adjutant (ex- 
tra Lieutenant,) 1 Regimental Quartermas- 
ter, (extra Lieutenant,) 12 Captains, 12 
First Lieutenants, 12 Second Lieutenants, 
1 Sergeant-Major, 1 Quartermaster-Ser- 
geant,! Chief Musician, 1 Saddler-Sergeant, 
1 Chief Trumpeter, 12 First Sergeants, 12 
Company Quartermaster Sergeants, 60 Ser- 
geants, 48 Corporals, 24 Trumpeters, 24 
Farriers and Blacksmiths, 12 Saddlers, 12 
Wagoners, and 804 Privates. The whole 



330 LIFE IN THE ARMY AND NAVY. 

number of commissioned officers to the reg- 
iment is 44, and whole number enlisted is 
1,013, making the aggregate 1,057. The 
regiment is sub-divided into 12 troops, each 
troop having 1 captain, 1 first lieutenant, 
1 second lieutenant, 1 first sergeant, 1 com- 
pany quartermaster-sergeant, 5 sergeants, 
4 corporals, 2 trumpeters, 2 farriers and 
blacksmiths, 1 saddler, 1 wagoner, 67 pri- 
vates ; total commissioned, 3 ; total enlist- 
ed, 84; aggregate, 87. 

There are 5 regiments of Artillery, each 
regiment having 1 colonel, 1 lieutenant- 
colonel, 3 majors, 1 adjutant, (extra lieu- 
tenant,) 1 regimental quartermaster, (extra 
lieutenant,) 12 captains, 24 first lieutenants, 
13 second lieutenants, 1 sergeant-major, 1 
quartermaster-sergeant, 1 chief musician, 2 
principal musicians, 12 first sergeants, 12 
company quartermaster-sergeants, 50 ser- 
geants, 48 corporals, 24 musicians, 24 arti- 
ficers, 12 wagoners, and 562 privates ; total 
commissioned, 56 ; total enlisted, 749 ; ag- 
gregate, 805. To each regiment there are 



LIFE IN THE ARMY AND NAVY. 331 

12 companies, one of which is mounted and 
is called a Light Battery. A company of 
Artillery consists of 1 captain, 2 first lieu- 
tenants, 1 second lieutenant, (Light Bat- 
tery has 2,) 1 first sergeant, 1 company 
quartermaster-sergeant, 4 sergeants, (Light 
Battery has 6,) 4 corporals, 2 musicians, 2 
artificers, 1 wagoner, 45 privates, (Light 
Battery has 67;) total commissioned 4, 
(Light Battery 5 ;) total enlisted 60, (Light 
Battery 84 ; aggregate, 64, (Light Battery, 
89.) 

There are 25 regiments of Infantry, each 
having 1 colonel, 1 lieutenant-colonel, 1 
major, 1 adjutant, (extra lieutenant,) 1 reg- 
imental quartermaster, (extra lieutenant,) 
10 captains, 10 first lieutenants, 10 second 
lieutenants, 1 sergeant-major, 1 quarter- 
master-sergeant, 1 chief musician, 2 princi- 
pal musicians, 10 first sergeants, 10 com- 
pany quartermaster sergeants, 40 sergeants, 
40 corporals, 20 musicians, 20 artificers. 10 
wagoners, and 450 privates ; total commis- 
sioned, 36 ; total enlisted, 605 ; aggregate, 



332 LIFE IN THE ARMY AND NAVY. 

641. Each regiment has 10 companies ; to 
each company there are : 1 captain, 1 first 
lieutenant, 1 second lieutenant, 1 first ser- 
geant, 1 company quartermaster-sergeant, 
4 sergeants, 4 corporals, 2 musicians, 2 art- 
ificers, 1 wagoner, 45 privates ; total com- 
missioned, 3 ; total enlisted, 60 ; aggregate, 
63. 

Another branch of the service is the En- 
gineer Battalion, which has 1 major, 1 ad- 
jutant, 1 quartermaster, 5 captains, 5 first 
lieutenants, 5 second lieutenants, 1 sergeant- 
major, 1 quartermaster-sergeant, 50 ser- 
geants, 5 corporals, 10 musicians, 119 pri- 
vates of the first class, 119 privates of the 
second class ; total commissioned, 16 ; total 
enlisted, 350 ; aggregate, 366. In the Bat- 
talion there are 5 companies, each having 1 
captain, 1 first lieutenant, 1 second lieuten- 
ant, 10 sergeants, 10 corporals, 2 musicians, 
24 privates first class, 24 privates second 
class ; total commissioned, 3 ; total enlisted, 
70 ; aggregate, 73. 

The President is by law Commander-in- 



LIFE IN THE ARMY AND NAVY. 333 

Chief of the Army. To assist him in the ex- 
ecution of the laws in so far as they relate 
to the army in its control, subsistence and 
supply, a Secretary of War is appointed 
by him, through whom he exercises a gen- 
eral supervision. To facilitate this a De- 
partment of War has been established, 
which is sub-divided int3 the following staff 
departments or corps : 

1. Adjutant General's Department. 

2. Inspector General's Department. 

3. Bureau of Military Justice. 

4. Quartermaster's Department. 

5. Subsistence Department. 

6. Medical Department. 

7. Pay Department. 

8. Signal Officer. 

9. Chief of Staff to the* General of the 
Army. 

10. Corps of Engineers. 

11. Ordnance Department. 

The general staff is the central point of 
military administration. It comprises all 
the officers concerned in regulating the de- 



334 LIFE IN THE ARMY AND NAVY. 

tails of the service, and furnishing the army 
with the means necessary for its subsist- 
ence, comfort, mobility and action. 

All general orders which emanate from 
the headquarters of the army, the orders of 
detail, of instruction, of movement, and all 
general regulations for the army, are com- 
municated to the troops through the office 
of the Adjutant General. 

The Adjutant General is charged with 
the record of military appointments, pro- 
motions, resignations, deaths and other cas- 
ualties ; with the registry and filling up of 
commissions, and with their distribution ; 
with the records which relate to the per- 
sonel of the army, and to the military his- 
tory of every officer and soldier ; with the 
duties connected with the recruiting ser- 
vice ; the registry of the names of soldiers; 
their enlistment and descriptive lists, and 
of deaths, desertions, discharges, &c. ; with 
the preservation of monthly returns of reg- 
iments and posts, and the muster-rolls of 
companies ; with receipts and examination 



LIFE IN THE ARMY AND NAVY. 335 

of applications for pension, previous to their 
being sent to the Pension Office, and of in- 
ventories of the effects of deceased soldiers. 

The annual returns of the militia of the 
several States and Territories ; of the ord- 
nance, arms, accoutrements, and munitions 
of war appertaining to the same, required 
by law to be made to the President of the 
United States, are filed, and the general 
returns of the militia annually required to 
be laid before Congress, are also prepared 
and consolidated in this office. 

The Inspector General's Department is 
charged with the duty of inspecting and 
reporting upon the condition of the forts 
with their armaments, of the state of dis- 
cipline of the troops — in short, upon the 
whole "material and personel" of the army, 
and to report whether or not the prescribed 
rules, regulations and orders for its govern- 
ment are properly carried into effect. 

In the office of the Judge Advocate Gen- 
eral, under whose charge is the Bureau of 
Military Justice, the proceedings of all 



336 LIFE IN THE ARMY AND NAVY. 

courts martial, courts of inquiry and mili- 
tary commissions are received, revised, re- 
corded and reported upon. It is the duty 
of the Judge Advocate General to report at 
once for the action of the Secretary of War, 
all fatal irregularities in proceedings, and 
illegal or unusual sentences. When called 
upon by the proper authority, he gives an 
opinion on questions of construction of mil- 
itary law ; and through him all communi- 
cations pertaining to questions of military 
justice should be addressed. 

The Quartermaster General's Department 
furnishes to the army its transportation, of 
whatever nature, quarters, fuel, stationery, 
&c, and pays for rent of quarters and for 
all materials to be used in the construction 
of buildings for its use. To that office are 
sent all reports and returns of property 
purchased, issued, worn out in service, lost, 
sold, destroyed or remaining on hand, and 
there are approved all contracts for pur- 
chases connected with the above. 

The Subsistence Department, as its name 



LIFE IN THE ARMY AND NAVY. 337 

implies, has charge of the furnishing of 
subsistence to troops, all reports and returns 
necessary to the end that stores may be 
properly accounted for, are made to this 
office, and here all contracts for their pur- 
chase are approved. 

The Medical Department or Surgeon 
General's Office has charge of the selection 
of medical officers for detail, and to it all 
returns and reports in regard to sick and 
wounded officers and soldiers, and medical 
stores, are made. With regard to the other 
bureaus or officers which have been men- 
tioned, their duties are described by their 
titles. 

We may further remark, in brief, that 
the American army is divided into Divis- 
ions and Departments commanded by Gen- 
erals ; that, in times of peace it is chiefly 
employed in occupying the various forts 
and defences of the country and in keeping 
peace with the Indians on the frontiers ; 
that, after forty years of service, the officers 
of the army may at their own request be 



338 LIFE IN THE ARMY AND NAVY. 

retired, receiving seventy-five per cent, of 
their pay ; that members of Congress desig- 
nate the largest proportion of those who 
are admitted to the West Point Academy, 
which is the regular school for the educa- 
tion of officers for the army. When, in 
time of war, it is necessary to have volun- 
teers, they are called for by Proclamation 
of the President, and the State Governors 
immediately answer the call, and send the 
proportion assigned to them, which are 
chiefly composed of the militia or State 
troops ; and after the war, these volunteer 
troops are disbanded and return to the or- 
dinary avocations of life, which fact has 
been considered by foreigners as one of the 
marvels of the American Government. The 
regular army is supplied with soldiers by 
enlistment, and after entering the service, 
no man can leave it without the consent of 
Government, nor without sufficient cause. 
With regard to the pay of the army, which 
is always enhanced by long service, we sub- 
mit the following : General, $13,500 ; Lieu- 



LIFE IN THE AKMY AND NAVY. 339 

tenant-General, $11,000 ; Major-General, 
$7,500; Brigadier-General, $5,500; Col- 
onel, $3,500 ; Lieutenant-Colonel, $3,000 ; 
Major, $2,500 ; Captains, $1800 and $2000; 
Regimental Adjutant and Quartermaster, 
each $1800; First Lieutenants, $1500 and 
$1600; Second Lieutenants, $1400 and 
$1500; and Chaplains, $1500. The pay 
of the common soldier is thirteen dollars 
per month with rations. There are twenty- 
five armories and arsenals in the country, 
all in command of competent officers, and 
the military Departments of the Govern- 
ment number fifteen, and embrace the whole 
Union. The amount required for support- 
ing the military establishment during 1872 
is about twenty-nine millions of dollars. 

As the War Department is the centre of 
the Army, so is the Navy Department the 
fountain head of the Navy. The duties of 
this Department are distributed through the 
Secretary's office and eight bureaus, name- 
ly : Bureau of Yards and Docks, which has 
charge of the navy-yards, including the 



340 LIFE IN THE ARMY AND NAVY. 

docks, wharves, buildings and machinery, 
and also of a Naval Asylum; Office of Navi- 
gation, which has charge of the maps, charts, 
flags, signals, &c, and also of the Naval 
Academy, Naval Observatory, and Nautical 
Almanac ; Office of Ordnance, which has 
charge of ordnance and ordnance stores, the 
manufacture and purchase of cannon, guns, 
powder, shot, shell, &c. ; Office of Construc- 
tion and Repair, having charge of the con- 
struction of vessels of war ; Office of Equip- 
ment and Recruiting, which has charge of 
the enlistment of men for the Navy, the 
equipment of vessels, anchors, cables, rig- 
ging, sails, coal, &c; Office of Provisions and 
Clothing; and Office of Steam Engineering; 
Office of Medicine and Surgery, the duties of 
which last two are described by their titles. 
There is attached to the Navy Department 
what is called the Marine Corps, whose du- 
ties are allied to those of the Army, only 
that they are performed on board ship or 
at the navy-yards ; also a National Obser- 
vatory which has earned a world-wide rep- 



LIFE IN THE AEMY AND NAVY. 341 

utation ; and also an Hydrographic Office, 
which with the Observatory annually pub- 
lishes volumes of scientific information of 
great value. 

The largest vessel in the United States 
navy has a displacement of 5,440 feet, car- 
ries 12 guns, and like the majority in the 
service is a screw steamer. Some other 
ships, however, carry ^5 guns. Of those 
ranking as first rates there are five ; second 
rates, forty ; third rates, forty-three ; fourth 
rates, ten ; to which may be added the 
iron clads, receiving and practice ships, 
supply vessels and tugs, making in all one 
hundred and seventy-nine, and carrying 
in the aggregate 1,390 guns. The offi- 
cers of the navy, to which we affix their 
" at sea " salaries, are as follows : 1 Admi- 
ral, $13,000; 1 Vice Admiral, $9,000; 12 
Rear Admirals, $6,000 ; 24 Commodores, 
$5,000; 50 Captains, $4,500; 89 Com- 
manders, $3,500; 164 Lieutenant Com- 
manders, $2,800; 201 Lieutenants, $2,400; 
75 Masters, $1,800; 68 Ensigns, $1,200; 



342 LIFE IN THE ARMY AND NAVY. 

113 Midshipmen, $1,000; 150 in Medical 
Corps, whose salaries are widely various ; 
134 in the Pay Corps, with various salaries ; 
and 241 in the Engineer Corps, together 
with an ample supply of Naval Construc- 
tors, Chaplains, Professors of Mathematics, 
and Civil Engineers, whose salaries range 
from seventeen hundred to four thousand 
four hundred dollars, and are increased 
with length of service. The pay of com- 
mon seamen is twenty-one and a half dol- 
lars per month, and while the subordinate 
grades in the service number fifty-seven, 
their pay ranges from eight to fifty-six 
dollars per month. The Academy where 
young men are fitted for service in the 
Navy is located at Annapolis, and is un- 
der rules, in regard to admission, allied to 
those of" the Military Academy at West 
Point. Of complete Navy Yards there 
are eight in the United States ; five fleets 
are now doing duty in various quarters 
of the globe ; and within the last year 
several scientific expeditions have been 



LIFE IN THE ARMY AND NAVY. 343 

fitted out as follows, viz : one to survey 
the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and another to 
survey the Isthmus of Darien, both of which 
have in view the making of a canal between 
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans ; and an ex- 
pedition has also been fitted out for explor- 
ations towards the North Pole. Indirectly 
connected with the Navy is a bureau called 
the Light-House Board, with which, as an 
active member, has hitherto been connected 
Admiral Thornton A. Jenkins, but who has 
recently been assigned to the fleet in the 
waters of China and Japan. Without going 
more fully into the subject, for want of 
space, it only remains for us to add in con- 
clusion, that the sum of money which will 
be required to support the American Naval 
Establishment during the year 1872 will 
be about twenty millions of dollars. 



PART ELEVENTH 



LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES 



The total number of incorporated cities 
in the United States is four hundred and 
nine, but many of them do not contain more 
than two thousand inhabitants. By far 
the largest proportion of foreigners who 
come to this country across the Atlantic 
ocean, enter the country at the port of New 
York, which is the largest city in the Wes- 
tern Hemisphere. It was founded hy the 
Dutch, and called by them New Amster- 
dam. It occupies the greater part of an 
island called Manhattan, which is thirteen 
and a half miles long, and contains an area 
of twenty-two miles. The cities of Brook- 
lyn and Jersey City, and several other 
towns, although having each a government 



348 LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 

of its own, are in reality portions of New 
York, and their combined population is not 
far from one and a half millions. Accord- 
ing to the last census, the population of 
New York by itself, was 942,292 ; of whom 
523,198 were born in the United States, 
and 484,109 in the State of New York. 
Within eight miles of the commercial me- 
tropolis, in New Jersey, is a city called 
Newark, of one hundred thousand people, 
but it is so closely identified with the for- 
mer in its business and social interests as 
almost to be considered a suburb of New 
York. During the last fifteen years the 
number of emigrants arriving there from, 
various parts of the world, was about 2,341,- 
000, the arrivals for 1870 alone having 
been 211,190, and it is estimated that about 
four-fifths of these foreigners found perma- 
nent homes in the various States of the 
interior. The principal street of New York, 
which runs through its entire length like a 
back-bone, is called Broadway, and for sev- 
eral miles is completely lined with iron and 



LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 349 

marble buildings, devoted chiefly to busi- 
ness pursuits, and winning for it the repu- 
tation of being one of the handsomest and 
wealthiest streets in the world. But much 
of this splendor is also found in all its sub- 
ordinate streets and avenues, where the 
houses are generally built of brick ; and as 
a street for private residences, its Fifth 
Avenue is claimed to be unsurpassed. Pro- 
jecting, as this city does, into a splendid har- 
bor, where the fortifications are strong and 
imposing, it is perpetually surrounded with 
a forest of shipping, which gives the stran- 
ger an adequate idea of its very extensive 
commerce. The value of its real and per- 
sonal estate has not been definitely settled, 
but has been estimated at nearly eight hun- 
dred millions of dollars, and the rate of tax- 
ation is two per cent per annum. It is 
supplied with pure water by an aqueduct 
which cost more than fifteen millions of dol- 
lars, the water pipes of which measure 
some two hundred and seventy miles. It 
has one hundred miles of sewers and more 



350 LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 

than two hundred miles of paved streets. 
Its temples for religious worship are numer- 
ous and many of them very beautiful, the 
church property of the city reaching in 
value nearly fifteen millions of dollars. Its 
principal park known as Central Park is 
said to be equal to the best in Europe, and 
its principal financial street, known as Wall 
street, although not more than half a mile 
in length, has a power which is felt in the 
remotest corners of the earth. Its hospitals 
and other benevolent institutions are num- 
erous and liberally conducted in every par- 
ticular ; and the same may be said of its 
institutions of learning, ranging from first- 
class colleges to the best of district or com- 
mon schools. It is abundantly supplied 
with libraries, many of which are very 
large, and all of them are conducted on the 
most liberal principles. Its manufacturing 
establishments are numberless ; its fire 
department is noted for its efficiency and 
is founded on the voluntary system; and 
there is a lively military spirit among its 



LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 351 

young men, and its militia regiments rival 
veteran regulars in their drill. Its police 
force is of the first order and is managed 
by commissioners. Policemen are appointed 
during good behavior, and officers rise from 
the ranks. Patrolmen are paid eight hun- 
dred dollars per annum, sergeants nine 
hundred, captains twelve hundred, inspec- 
tors two thousand, ana a general superin- 
tendent five thousand dollars a year. There 
are about seven hundred police stations, 
four hundred and twelve miles of streets, 
and eleven miles of piers in the city. Its 
newspapers are abundant and taken in the 
aggregate are probably more influential for 
good or evil than any similar number on 
the globe. Its markets for the necessaries 
of life are fully supplied with everything 
that can be desired, in the way of meats, 
flour, fruit and fish. Its government, al- 
though resting upon the most liberal pro- 
visions, has for many years been a kind of 
political arena, in which unworthy men 
have obtained and exercised the most dan- 



352 LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 

gerous powers, and at the moment of writ- 
ing these lines, a number of men who were 
lately at the head of the city government, 
are confined in a common prison for robbing 
their fellow-citizens to an enormous extent. 
While it is true that New York is very 
much of a cosmopolitan city, it has been 
estimated that two-thirds of its inhabitants 
are natives of the United States. It is, 
however, pre-eminently a commercial city, 
and in several respects is equal to London. 
The post office of New York is the most 
important in the country ; and its customs 
receipts amount to about three-fifths of the 
total in the United States. The manufac- 
tures of the city constitute a leading element 
of its prosperity and wealth. The most 
numerous class of workmen are those en- 
gaged in making wearing apparel ; next to 
whom come the workmen in iron and met- 
aJs ; then the chemists ; workmen in leather, 
steam machinery and lumber ; navigators ; 
workmen in fibrous substances, glass and 
pottery ; and the manufacturers of cars and 



LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 353 

wagons ; so on, — to an almost unlimited 
extent. Nowhere is the habit of eating 
away from home, so general as in New York, 
owing to the great distance between the 
dwelling houses and the places of business ; 
and this habit has made eating houses, 
lunch rooms, refectories, oyster cellars, and 
bar-rooms, a prominent feature of the town. 
Its hotels are quite magnificent, and its 
boarding houses as comfortable as any in 
the world. The eating houses are found 
everywhere, and are frequented by the 
millionaire as well as the vagabond. The 
city government is vested in a Mayor and 
Boards of Aldermen and Councilmen, who 
are annually elected by the people. While 
it is true that in times of high political ex- 
citement, it is sometimes afflicted with mobs 
and riots, the din of business always ceases 
on the approach of the Sabbath, and that 
day is observed as a day of rest, of church- 
going and of recreation by its teeming thou- 
sands. The spring and autumn, are the 
two great seasons for business ; winter, the 



354 LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 

special season for amusements and all sorts 
of gaiety; while the summer is compara- 
tively sluggish, although even then, the 
turmoil of business is far from being dead. 
The second largest city in the United 
States is Philadelphia, which was founded 
by William Penn in 1682, and contains 
674,022 inhabitants, of whom 490,398 were 
born in the United States, and 428,250 in 
Pennsylvania. It stands on a plain between 
the rivers Delaware and Schuylkill, and 
has several suburban cities, the whole of 
which form one municipality, containing 
120 square miles. The streets of the city 
proper are laid out in regular order, and the 
houses are more distinguished for their 
neatness and comfort than for their rich- 
ness or extravagance, and in this particular 
are in keeping with the character of the 
population. The city is well supplied with 
parks, one of which, for its collection of 
trees and scenes of beauty, is considered a 
successful rival of the great Central Park 
of New York. Its public buildings .are nu- 



LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 355 

merons and beautiful ; one of them, called 
Girard College, was built and the institu- 
tion endowed by one of its citizens alone ; 
but the chief boast of the inhabitants is In- 
dependence Hall, which was the meeting 
place of Congress during the earlier history 
of the American Republic. The churches 
are also numerous, all the religious denom- 
inations being well supplied, but this is es- 
pecially the case in regard to the Quakers, 
who have hitherto been so numerous and 
influential, as to have given to their city 
the name of Quaker City. The literary and 
scientific institutions of Philadelphia have 
always occupied a high position, and the 
cultured character of its inhabitants has 
always been manifested by its rich libraries 
and galleries of art, and by the upright 
character of its press. It was here that 
Benjamin Franklin lived, and worked as a 
printer, and won his great fame as a philo- 
sopher. From the earliest times the central 
mint of the United States has been estab- 
lished here, and the city has borne an im- 



356 LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 

portant part in the financial history of the 
country. Because of its remoteness from 
the Atlantic ocean, it may not compete 
with New York in its foreign commerce, 
but it carries on an immense trade with the 
interior country, and is a noted terminus 
for unnumbered railroads and canals. As 
a depot for the exportation of coal it is 
without a rival; and it has always been 
famous for the extent of its book-publishing 
business. Within the last few years Phil- 
adelphia has greatly increased its manufac- 
turing establishments, until its inhabitants 
now claim that they can now produce every- 
thing that may be required for the comfort 
or convenience of man ; indeed, in the vari- 
ety and extent of its manufactures it is 
said to be unequalled by any other city in 
the Union. On this point, we submit one 
illustration, which is, that it contains the 
two largest establishments in the world for 
the manufacture of locomotives, which give 
employment to about four thousand hands, 
and can build one of those wonderful en- 



LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 357 

gines in a single day. The capital invested 
in its manufacturing establishments is esti- 
mated at $300,000,000. While the inhab- 
itants of this city are noted for their peace- 
ful disposition and for their love of order, 
it is also true that it has been the scene of 
many political or religious disturbances, 
but which in these latter davs have been 
quite unknown. Another of the character- 
istics of this city is the total absence of 
tenement houses, and the existence of com- 
fortable homes for the laboring population. 
As one of her public men informs us, every 
laborer, who has a family, dwells under a 
separate roof, which is most frequently his 
own — in a house lighted by gas, and sup- 
plied with an abundance of pure water. 
As this city is pre-eminently a producing 
city, so are its native and foreign inhabi- 
tants distinguished for their industry, and 
there is not in the whole land, probably, 
any other crowded city where among the 
working classes more genuine comfort and 
contentment can be found. 



358 LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 

The next city on our list is Boston, 
which contains 250,526 inhabitants, of 
whom 172,450 were born in the United 
States, and 127,620 in~;the State of Massa- 
chusetts. If, however, we should add to 
it the various towns which adjoin it, the 
population would be nearly double. It 
was first settled in 1630 by the Puritans, 
and is the leading city of New England, 
upon which it has always exerted a para- 
mount influence. It bore a very important 
part in the history of the American Revo- 
lution, and events of great importance have 
transpired within its limits and in its vicin- 
ity. Formerly it was more closely identi- 
fied with the commerce of the East, than 
any other American city, and at the pres- 
ent time ranks next to New York in the 
extent of its foreign commerce. The city 
is chiefly situated on a peninsula, and some 
of the adjacent parts, with which it is con- 
nected by numerous bridges, rise to the 
height of one hundred and thirty feet above 
the level of the harbor, which is deep, con- 



LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 359 

venient and secure. The streets were origi- 
nally laid out upon no systematic plan, and 
being accommodated to the unevenness of 
the surface, many of them are crooked and 
narrow, but these defect are being annually 
remedied. Many of the public buildings are 
handsome, but some of them are more fam- 
ous for their associations than their impos- 
ing appearance. The State house occupies 
the apex of the city, and presents a com- 
manding view from the sea and surround- 
ing country ; and its Faneuil Hall is univer- 
sally known as the " Cradle of Liberty," 
because it was here that the orators of the 
Revolution fired the hearts of the people 
against England. One of its leading land- 
marks is the monument of Bunker Hill, 
where was fought a famous battle. Its 
wharves and warehouses are on a scale of 
magnitude surpassed by no other city of 
the same size. Its churches are numerous 
and many of them beautiful, the largest 
number of them belonging to the Unitarian 
denomination. It has an extensive park 



360 LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 

called " Boston Common," which is a de- 
lightful resort for the inhabitants during the 
vernal months. With regard to literary, 
scientific and educational institutions, the 
city is most abundantly supplied. Its 
schools have a high reputation and it pub- 
lishes more than one hundred periodicals. 
Among its many libraries is one, the largest, 
which is entirely free to all who may desire 
to enjoy its advantages ; and the fact that 
the famous Harvard University is located 
in one of its suburbs, called Cambridge, 
has greatly tended to give to it its high 
reputation as a seat of learning. Its be- 
nevolent institutions are also numerous and 
richly endowed, and it has taken a promi- 
nent part in providing for the wants and 
intellectual elevation of the blind and the 
comforts of the insane. Its infirmaries have 
always borne a high reputation. The ice 
trade is a Boston invention and is said to 
have secured for it, the important trade 
which it enjoys, with Calcutta, and other 
portions of the East. On the. score of en- 



LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 361 

terprise and culture the inhabitants of Bos- 
ton, have no superiors, and that circum- 
stance has tended to make them somewhat 
clannish, or exclusive in their manners and 
conversation and their modes of doing busi- 
ness, and hence it it that the outside world, 
especially the cosmopolitan citizens of New 
York, occasionally indulge in a little ridicule 
at the expense of the Eostonians. It is a 
thriving city, and by means of seven or 
eight great lines of railway, carries on an 
important trade in manufactures, with the 
interior country. It is a poor place for 
idlers and beggars, and yet the most liberal 
provision is made for the deserving poor. 
While this city does much to promote the 
fine arts, it claims a reputation of its own, 
for what it has done in developing the art of 
music, and it boasts of an organ which is 
the largest in the world. 

Another of the leading cities of America 
is Baltimore, which has a population of 
267,354, of whom 210,870 were born in 
the United States, and 187,650 in the State 



362 LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 

of Maryland. It was founded by the Ro- 
man Catholics in 1729 ; is admirably situ- 
ated both for foreign and internal trade, 
having a spacious and secure harbor, and 
occupying a central position as regards the 
Atlantic coast of the United States. The 
site of the city is picturesque, covering a 
number of eminences; and although con- 
nected with the Northern and Western 
States, by its business ramifications, it has 
hitherto been considered a representative 
of the Southern States. It was here that 
the first gun was fired, by a mob, at the 
commencement of the late Civil War, when 
a regiment of troops from Massachusetts 
was assaulted, on their way to Washington. 
Its proximity to the Seat of Government, 
from which it is only thirty-eight miles dis- 
tant, has added to its importance and made 
it popular with the officials of the nation. 
From the number and prominence of its 
Monuments it has been called the " Monu- 
mental City." The most imposing of these 
is surmounted by a statue of George Wash- 



LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 363 

ington, which stands three hundred and 
twelve feet above the adjacent harbor ; and 
the city contains a shot-tower which is two 
hundred and fifty feet high, the highest in 
the world. The churches of this city are 
numerous, and many of them beautiful and 
imposing; and it boasts of one large Park, 
which is remarkable for the beauty of its 
scenery, and is a successful rival of those 
in New York and Boston. The manufac- 
turing facilities of Baltimore are uncommon 
and quite equal to its commercial advan- 
tages. In its benevolent and educational 
institutions it is behind none of its sister 
cities, and its name is associated with many 
men of culture, connected with literature, 
science, and the fine arts. It was here that 
the famous George Peabody first established 
himself in business, and where he founded 
one of the largest educational institutions 
associated with his name. 

Among the representative cities of Amer- 
ica is New Orleans. It was founded by the 
French in 1717, and has a population of 



364 LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 

191,418. Its site is on the eastern bank 
of the great Mississippi river, about one 
hundred miles above the mouth of that 
stream, and as it forms a half circle, has 
been called the Crescent City. Many parts 
of it are so low and flat that the waters 
are kept from overflowing it only by arti- 
ficial embankments. It possesses unrivalled 
natural advantages for internal trade, and 
it is visited by vessels from every quarter 
of the globe. Every description of craft 
is employed in transporting to it the rich 
products of the Mississippi and its many 
tributaries, whose navigable waters are not 
less than fifteen thousand miles in extent, 
and embrace every variety of climate. Not 
only is it the receptacle of countless varie- 
ties of produce from the interior, but is 
considered the largest cotton market in the 
world. The particular spot where all this 
merchandise is received, and from which it 
is shipped to foreign ports is called the Le- 
vee ; it extends along the river for miles, 
and because of the strange commingling of 



LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 365 

ships and steamboats and other kinds of 
vessels, and also on account of its vast pro- 
portions and never-ceasing bustle has been 
pronounced by travellers as one of the won- 
ders of America. It abounds in handsome 
buildings, and its various public institutions 
rest on liberal foundations. On account of 
its low situation and warm climate it is sub- 
ject to annual visitations from the yellow 
fever, which is frequently fatal to strangers. 
Any description of this city would be in- 
complete without a notice of its cemeteries. 
Each one is enclosed with a thick brick wall 
of arched cavities, made just large enough 
to admit a single coffin, and rising to the 
height of twelve feet. Within the enclos- 
ure are crowded the tombs, which are built 
wholly above the ground, and are from one 
to three stories high. This method of sep- 
ulture is a necessity, for the earth is so 
universally saturated with water, that none 
but paupers are consigned to the earth. 
The population of the city is exceedingly 
varied ; its chief resident inhabitants are 



366 LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 

known as Creoles or the native population; 
and those who are engaged in mercantile 
pursuits, and are successful, usually remain 
there during the winter or business months, 
spending their summers among the high- 
lands of the interior country. It is also 
thickly inhabited by colored people, who 
were once in slavery. It was the scene of 
quite a famous battle in 1815, between the 
English and the Americans under Andrew 
Jackson, who was victorious and subse- 
quently became President of the United 
States. The prevailing religion is Roman 
Catholic, and many churches are modeled 
upon those of European countries ; and not- 
withstanding the fact that this city is some- 
times called the " Wet Grave " and the 
" City of the Dead," it is celebrated for its 
continuous round of gaieties, from the be- 
ginning of the year to its close. 

On leaving New Orleans, if we pass up 
the Mississippi river about twelve hundred 
miles, we come to the city of St. Louis, 
which contains 310,864 inhabitants. It 



LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 367 

was founded by the French fur traders, and 
possesses the peculiarity of being located 
at the geographical centre of the North 
American Continent ; and its advantages as 
a commercial emporium, are probably not 
surpassed by those of any inland port in 
the world. The business transacted here 
by means of steamboats and railroads is 
enormous ; the people are cosmopolitan in 
their character, and not behind the cities of 
the Eastern States, in their industry, lib- 
erality and intellectural culture. And what 
we say of St. Louis, is also true of Cincin- 
nati, on the Ohio, with its 216,239 inhabi- 
tants ; of Louisville on the same river, with 
its 100,753 inhabitants ; and of Chicago, 
on Lake Michigan. With regard to the 
last named place, we may remark that its 
rapid growth, in twenty-five years, from a 
village to a city of nearly three hundred 
thousand, is one of the marvels of the age. 
But, since the first pages of this volume 
were sent to press, Chicago has met with 
a calamity by fire, which has been pro- 



368 LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 

nounced quite unprecedented. It occurred 
In October, 1871, and resulted in the total 
destruction of all the business portions of 
the city. More than a hundred lives were 
also lost, eighty thousand persons, includ- 
ing merchants and mechanics, were thrown 
out of employment or reduced to beggary 
in a single night, and the total loss of prop- 
erty was estimated at two hundred millions 
of dollars. It is said to have been the most 
extensive fire that ever occurred in any 
country, and the sympathy felt for the suf- 
ferers, called forth subscriptions of money 
from every quarter of the globe, amounting 
in the aggregate to many millions of dollars ; 
and what was still more wonderful was the 
fact that the regular business of the city 
was again in successful operation in a very 
few weeks, although it had to be transacted 
under many and great disadvantages. 

Having elsewhere touched upon the 
characteristics of Washington, the metrop- 
olis of the United States, with its 120,000 
inhabitants, we conclude our list of the lar- 



LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 369 

ger cities, with an allusion to San Fran- 
cisco, which contains about 150,000 inhabi- 
tants. The rapidity of its growth, can only 
be compared with that of Chicago ; and 
while the former was chiefly built up by 
the gold mines of California, the latter owes 
its prosperity to the agricultural develop- 
ment of the wide and fertile region of which 
it is the centre. The fact that San Fran- 
cisco is the largest American seaport on the 
Pacific ocean, and that it is at the terminus 
of the Pacific Railroad, gives it command of 
the commerce of all the Eastern nations, by 
which advantages it will probably become 
a city of vast importance and influence. 
From the nature of its position, its social 
characteristics are quite different from those 
of the Atlantic cities, and it is not b#rind 
them in any of those qualities which give 
power and dignity to a city, yet it stands 
quite alone in regard to its Chinese popula- 
tion. The high rates of labor in this city 
generally, and its dependence on importa- 
tion for all its iron, brass, cotton, hardware 



370 LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 

and most of its wool, leather and hard wood 
lumber, prevent the establishment of fac- 
tories, and all the cutlery, fine tools and 
machinery, glass, porcelain, clothing and 
shoes are necessarily obtained from abroad 
at a great expense, thus giving employment 
to a large amount of shipping. 

In our remarks thus far, we have only 
spoken of those American cities which con- 
tain more than one hundred thousand in- 
habitants. But there are many smaller 
cities, which have a world-wide fame on 
account of their beauty, business character- 
istics or historical associations. Among 
these may be mentioned Charleston, which 
has about fifty thousand inhabitants, is the 
centre of the rice producing country of 
South Carolina, and in whose harbor, at 
Fort Sumter, was made the first regular 
assault upon the national forces at the com- 
mencement of the late civil war, when the 
city was a great sufferer; — Savannah, the 
chief seaport of Georgia and the rival of 
Charleston, having a population, of nearly 



LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 371 

thirty thousand; Richmond, in Virginia, 
with more than fifty thousand inhabitants 
and famous for its beautiful location, its 
flour and tobacco trade, and for having been 
the headquarters of the late rebellion ; Mo- 
bile, in Alabama, with thirty-two thousand 
inhabitants, possessing characteristics simi- 
lar to those of New Orleans ; Detroit, in 
Michigan, with nearly eighty thousand in- 
habitants, beautiful for situation, and the 
commercial gateway to the Great Lakes of 
Huron, Michigan and Superior ; Milwaukie, 
in Wisconsin, with seventy-one thousand in- 
habitants, the counterpart of Chicago and 
its unsuccessful rival; Cleveland in Ohio, 
with ninety-three thousand energetic inhabi- 
tants ; Buffalo, at the Eastern end of Lake 
Erie, with a population of one hundred and 
fifteen thousand souls, near which are the 
Falls of Niagara; Pittsburg in Pennsylvania, 
with a population of eighty-six thousand, 
almost entirely devoted to the coal and iron 
interests ; Albany in New York, the head of 
navigation on the Hudson and famous for 



372 LIFE IN THE LEADING CITIES. 

its Dutch history and as being the Capitol 
of the Empire State, with seventy thousand 
people ; Rochester and Troy, in the same 
State, with sixty-three thousand souls; 
Indianapolis, in Indiana, with forty-eight 
thousand people and famous for its sur- 
rounding agricultural country ; Portland, 
in Maine, which has thirty-two thousand 
souls and one of the best harbors in Amer- 
ica; and the cities of Cambridge, Massa- 
chusetts, and New Haven, in Connecticut, 
where are located two of the leading Col- 
leges of the United States. 



PART TWELFTH 



FRONTIER LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 



The frontiers of An^rica are so exten- 
sive and the pursuits of their inhabitants 
so various that an entire volume would not 
suffice to describe them with minuteness. 
In taking a bird's-eye view of the domain 
in question, (and a similar view of other 
subjects is all that has been attempted in 
the foregoing chapters.) we propose to speak 
of the four following characteristics, viz : 
the Indians, the Pioneer Farmers, the Fur 
Traders and Trappers, and the Lumber- 
men. 

It is now a settled fact that the Red race 
or Native Indians of America, are gradually 
passing away under the march of civiliza- 
tion. According to the most authentic 



376 FRONTIER LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

data, the number of Indians who recognize 
the President as their Great Father, is 
about three hundred thousand. Of these, 
the Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws and Chick- 
asaws, who live on the head waters of the 
Arkansas, number some fifty-four thousand; 
and excepting 4000 of the Six Nations in 
New York, 1000 Cherokees in North Caro- 
lina, 600 Penobscots in Maine, and 41,000 
of various tribes still holding reservations 
on the Great Lakes and the Mississippi 
and Missouri riverfe, they are the only tribes 
that have made any satisfactory advances 
in acquiring the arts and comforts of civili- 
zation. It would thus appear that the 
number of wild Indians who live entirely 
by the chase, and inhabit the American ter- 
ritories, excluding Alaska, number two hun- 
dred thousand souls. Although nominally 
obedient to the laws of the United States, 
these hunting tribes are in reality as free 
to roam, as if there were no central govern- 
ment. But with those who are partially 
civilized the case is quite different. Their 



FRONTIER LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 377 

wealth has been estimated at $3,300,000, 
while they support about seventy schools, 
nearly the same number of teachers or mis- 
sionaries, and cultivate nearly one thousand 
acres of land. The names by which the} r 
are known number one hundred and fifty, 
and their geographical condition is co-exten- 
sive with the area of the United States and 
Territories ; and it is a remarkable fact 
that of all the races or classes of people 
who inhabit the United States, the Indians 
are the only people who are not recognized 
as citizens by the General Government. 

On leaving the hunting grounds of the 
Red-Men for the haunts of opening civiliza- 
tion the first thing which attracts attention 
is the cabin of the pioneer or frontier far- 
mer. Though born and bred in a settled 
country, this man, who represents a large 
class, has been tempted by the spirit of 
enterprise to purchase a few hundred acres 
of land at the low Government price, which 
he is clearing away as rapidly as possible, 
and in the midst of which he has fixed his 



378 FRONTIER LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

home. It is built of logs, small and poorly 
furnished, and but for the smoke issuing 
from its rustic chimney, could hardly be 
distinguished from the stable or barn, where 
he shelters his horses and oxen and cows. 
Hard work and rough fare are the lot of 
this poor yoeman, but his mission, as a man, 
commands the highest respect. He has a 
growing family about him, and in their wel- 
fare are centred all his hopes. Though far 
removed from schools and churches and the 
refinements of life, he plods on year after 
year, giving his boys the best education he 
can, thankful that they are approaching 
man's estate, and cheered with the prospect 
that, like many of his predecessors in a 
new country, he will acquire a fortune and 
spend his old age in a large frame or brick 
house, and end his days in peace. Five, ten, 
or it may be fifteen miles from this man's 
cabin is another, built on the same model, 
and whose owner is a counterpart of him- 
self. Farther on, still another log cabin 
comes in view, and so on do they, continue 



FRONTIER LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 379 

to appear, encompassing the entire frontiers 
of civilization. The ancestors of many of 
these men were among those who originally 
fought on the battle-field for the indepen- 
dence of their country, and they themselves, 
with their brothers and sons, flocked by 
thousands to its rescue, during the late 
Civil War in America. These men embodj r 
the true spirit of the land in which they 
dwell, and in history they will be long re- 
membered with honor and gratitude, for 
what they have done, and are doing, to 
make clear the pathway of empire. 

We come now to speak of that class of 
people, living on the frontiers, known as 
Fur Traders and Trappers. The business 
of collecting and selling furs and peltries, 
was commenced immediately after the first 
settlement of the country, and for about 
two hundred years, was eminently lucrative 
and gave employment to large numbers of 
enterprising men. Representatives from 
France and England as well as the United 
States participated in the trade, and sev- 



380 FRONTIER LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

eral companies of great magnitude and influ- 
ence were the outgrowth of this trade, viz : 
the Hudson's Bay Company, the North- 
west Company and the American Fur Com- 
pany. Of late years, however, the fur busi- 
ness has greatly declined on the American 
Continent, but is not yet extinct. The 
men called traders are those who locate 
themselves on the borders of the wilderness, 
and keep for sale ample supplies of all such 
articles as may be needed by the Indians 
or trappers, who pay for what they pur- 
chase with furs and peltries. The more 
common articles required are blankets, guns 
and ammunition, flour and pork, tobacco, 
knives, as well as trinkets and the baneful 
firewater, while the articles for which they 
are exchanged, are buffalo robes and the 
skins of the deer, the beaver and otter, the 
sable, the mink, the bear and the wolf, for 
all of which there is always a demand in 
the cities of the Atlantic States. The men 
known as trappers, are either white men or 
half breeds, (so-called, because they are the 



FRONTIER LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 381 

offspring of French fathers and Indian moth- 
ers,) and they are the successful rivals of 
the native Indians in hunting or trapping 
wild animals. Those who reside in the 
prairie countries or among the Rocky 
Mountains, chiefly emplo}^" the horse in 
travelling, while those who reside in the 
densely wooded regions, where rivers and 
lakes abound, employ the bark canoe in 
their operations. In the earlier times, 
when America was yet a wilderness, this 
latter class of men rendered important ser- 
vice to the English and French nations, by 
acting as guides and assistants in the ex- 
ploring expeditions, and they became uni- 
versally known as voyageurs. While there 
are many American towns and cities which 
owe their origin to the existence of the fur 
trade, the two most noted of these are St 
Louis on the Mississippi river, and Mon- 
treal in Canada, which lies on the river St. 
Lawrence, but both of these noted cities 
are rapidly losing their former reputations, 
and have really become cosmopolitan in 



382 FRONTIER LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

their character, as well as cities of great 
magnitude and importance in the history of 
commerce. 

But by far the most important phase of 
frontier life in the United States, is that 
connected with the lumbering business. 
There is no country on the globe which 
equals America in the extent of its valua- 
ble forests, and there is a great and con- 
stantly increasing demand, for every vari- 
ety of lumber, for the building of houses 
and the countless other things which are 
made of wood and indispensable for the 
comfort of mankind. The manufacture of 
lumber is of the utmost importance, and is 
a prominent source of wealth in America, 
the aggregate value of the trade amounting 
to more than one hundred millions of dollars, 
and giving employment to nearly one hun- 
dred thousand persons in its various depart- 
ments. The variety of forest trees which 
are cut down and transformed into lumber 
is very great, but the pine is most abun- 
dant, next to which may be mentioned the 



FRONTIER LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 383 

fir, spruce and hemlock, all of which are 
found in the Eastern, Northern and North- 
western States. The various marketable 
articles, which are manufactured out of 
these several woods are known as timber, 
staves, shingles, boards of every thickness, 
scantling, masts and knees for shipping; 
and the uses to which these productions 
are applied, are endless and of vast impor- 
tance to the people in every sphere of life. 
In North Carolina, they have a peculiar 
kind of pine, which they not only manu- 
facture into lumber, but from which the in- 
habitants obtain large quantities of tar, 
pitch and turpentine. In Alabama and 
Mississippi, they have still another variety 
of pine, which is worked into spars and 
masts by the ship-builders of the country. 
In Florida, an extensive business is done in 
preparing the live oak of that region for 
use in building the Naval vessels of the 
country, — the Government retaining the 
monopoly of that valuable product. In 
many of the Western States, there is a tree 
called the black-walnut, which is employed 



384 FKONTIER LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

to a great extent in the manufacture of ele- 
gant furniture, and has competed success- 
fully with the imported wood called ma- 
hogany. 

With regard to the various classes of 
people engaged in the lumbering business, 
throughout the Union, the most numerous 
are called lumbermen. In all those regions 
where the white pine and spruce and fir 
prevail, they form extensive parties and 
spend the winter in the dense forests, cut- 
ting down trees and dragging the logs to 
the banks of the streams; and when spring 
comes, and the streams become full of water, 
they drive the logs down the rivers, and in 
immense quantities, all arranged in rafts, 
deliver them at the saw mills at the mouths 
of the streams and on navigable waters, 
where the logs are turned into all kinds of 
lumber, and thence shipped by vessels to 
various parts of the United States as well 
as to foreign countries. Many of the mer- 
chants or companies who employ these lum- 
bermen do business on a scale of great mag- 
nitude, and they not only control the vari- 



FRONTIER LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 385 

ous operations in the interior, but are also 
the owners of the mills where the lumber 
is made, as well as many of the vessels em- 
ployed in the carrying trade. The mills to 
which we have alluded, are generally so 
located as to be driven by water-power, and 
as they are very numerous and extensive, 
they give employment to workmen of many 
grades, who form a class quite distinct from 
that of lumbermen. They are for the most 
part an intelligent and hardy race of men, 
and fail not, when elections take place, to 
exert an important influence on the affairs 
of their own State or those of the General 
Government. 

As we pass into the pine forests of Caro- 
lina, we there find quite another state of 
affairs. In that region, the manufacture 
of lumber is carried on, as already stated, 
in conjunction with the production of tar, 
pitch and turpentine, and by far the largest 
proportion of the men employed, were for- 
merly the colored people called slaves, but 
now known as freedmen. There, as well 
as elsewhere, the prevailing business is 



386 FRONTIER LIFE AND DEVELOPMENTS. 

conducted by organized companies or by 
men of ample means, who give employment, 
and a good support, to large numbers of 
hardworking men. As to those who live 
in the States bordering on the Gulf of Mex- 
ico, especially in Florida, and who prepare 
the live oak timber for use at the Navy 
Yards, — they are mostly men from the 
north, with northern habits and constitu- 
tions, and are exclusively employed by the 
General Government. They also pursue 
their arduous labors in the winter months, 
and, like the lumbermen of New England, 
live in tents or cabins and on the plainest 
fare. As to the business of spar-cutting in 
Alabama and Mississippi, it requires so 
little sagacity, that it is chiefly carried on 
by those who own the forest lands; but 
when we pass on to the Northwestern States, 
where the black-walnut prevails, we there 
find the business of lumbering fully organ- 
ized, and the durable and rich looking wood 
carefully prepared for transportation by 
steamboats or railroads to the markets on 
the Atlantic coast. 



PART THIRTEENTH 



JUDICIAL LIFE 



The Constitution provides that " the ju- 
dicial power of the United States shall be 
vested in one Supreme Court, and in such 
inferior courts as the Congress may from 
time to time ordain and establish." The 
Constitution further defines and limits the 
judicial power as follows — "1. The judicial 
power shall extend to all cases, in law and 
equity, arising under this Constitution, the 
laws of the United States, and treaties 
made, or which shall be made, under their 
authority ; to all cases affecting ambassa- 
dors, other public ministers and consuls ; 
to all cases of admiralty and maritime juris- 
diction ; to controversies to which the Uni- 
ted States shall be a party; to controver- 



390 JUDICIAL LIFE. 

sies between two or more States, between 
a State and citizens of another State, be- 
tween citizens of different States, between 
citizens of the same State claiming lands 
under grants of different States, and be- 
tween a State or the citizens thereof and 
foreign states, citizens or subjects." " 2. 
In all cases affecting ambassadors, other 
public ministers and consuls, and those in 
which a State shall be a party, the Supreme 
Court shall have original jurisdiction, hi 
all the other cases before mentioned, the 
Supreme Court shall have appellate juris- 
diction both as to law and fact, with such 
exceptions, and under such regulations, as 
the Congress shall make." 

The Supreme Court being established by 
the Constitution, Congress has from time 
to time established the following additional 
" inferior courts " of the United States, viz : 
the Circuit Courts, the District Courts, the 
Court of Claims, the Supreme Court of the 
District of Columbia, the Territorial Courts, 
with the Supreme Court, constitute the 



JUDICIAL LIFE. 391 

Judiciary of the United States. The out- 
lines of their powers, jurisdiction, &c, will 
be briefly presented as follows : 

I. The Supreme Court. The original ju- 
risdiction of the Supreme Court is defined 
in the Constitution, as quoted. Its appel- 
late jurisdiction is also there defined, but is 
provided to be subject to exceptions and 
regulation by Congress. This power Con- 
gress has exercised in the following instan- 
ces. Appeals from these Circuit Courts to 
the Supreme Court, in civil actions, equity 
cases, and admiralty and prize cases, are 
restricted to those in which the matter in 
dispute exceeds the sum or value of two 
thousand dollars exclusive of costs. But 
this restriction does not apply to patent 
copyright, or revenue cases ; nor does it 
affect appeals in criminal cases. Congress 
has also provided that the Supreme Court 
shall have appellate jurisdiction from judg- 
ments or decrees of the highest courts of 
the several States in suits where is drawn 
in question the validity of a treaty, or stat- 



392 JUDICIAL LIFE. 

ute of, or an authority exercised under, the 
United States, and the decision has been 
against their validity ; or where is drawn 
in question the validity of a statute of, or 
an authority exercised under, any State, 
on the ground of their being repugnant to 
the constitution, treaties, or laws of the 
United States, and the decision is in favor 
of such validity ; or where any title, right, 
privilege, or immunity is claimed under the 
constitution, treaties or laws of the United 
States, and the decision is against the title, 
right, &c. But from the operations of these 
provisions are excepted cases of persons 
held in the custody of the military authori- 
ties of the United States, charged with mili- 
tary offences, or with having aided or abet- 
ted rebellion against the Government. 

The Supreme Court sits at Washington, 
and holds one annual session, commencing 
on the first Monday in December, with 
such adjourned or special terms as may be 
found necessary for the despatch of busi- 
ness. It consists of a chief justice and 



JUDICIAL LIFE. 393 

eight justices, who, in common with all the 
United States Judges, hold their offices 
during good behavior. The salary of the 
Chief Justice is $8,500 ; that of each of 
the justices eight thousand dollars, per an- 
num. Six of the nine constitute a quorum. 
II. The Circuit Courts are nine in num- 
ber ; the United States being divided into 
nine circuits, each comprising three or more 
districts. Justices of the Supreme Court 
are allotted by that Court, to the several 
circuits, to assist in holding the Circuit 
Courts. Each circuit has besides a circuit 
judge with a salary of six thousand dollars ; 
with the same power and jurisdiction as the 
justice of the Supreme Court allotted to the 
circuit. The Circuit Court in each circuit 
is held by the justice of the Supreme Court, 
or by the circuit judge of the circuit, or by 
the district judge of the district — sitting 
alone; or by the justice of the Supreme 
Court and circuit judge sitting together ; or 
(in the absence of either of them,) by the 
other and the district judge. Where two 



394 JUDICIAL LIFE. 

judges hold a circuit court, and differ in 
opinion, the law provides for a special ap- 
peal to the Supreme Court. There are two 
annual sessions of each circuit court, with 
special sessions for the trial of criminal 
cases. The jurisdiction of the Circuit 
Courts is as follows : They have concurrent 
jurisdiction, with the State courts, of civil 
suits at common law and equity where the 
matter in dispute exceeds, exclusive of 
costs, the sum or value of five hundred dol- 
lars, and where the United States are plain- 
tiffs or petitioners, or an alien is a party, 
(but not where both parties are aliens ;) or 
where the suit is between a citizen of the 
State in which the suit is brought, and a 
citizen of another State. They have exclu- 
sive jurisdiction of all crimes and offences 
cognizable under the authority of the United 
States, except of such as are within the 
jurisdiction of the District Courts, and of 
those they have concurrent jurisdiction. 
They have also original jurisdiction in all 
patent and copy-right cases, and their juris- 



JUDICIAL LIFE. 395 

diction also extends to all cases arising un- 
der the revenue laws. They are also in- 
vested with jurisdiction of certain classes of 
cases removed to them, under special stat- 
utes, from the State Courts ; including suits 
between citizens of different States, suits 
against aliens, and suits and prosecutions 
against military and other officers of the 
Government. The Circuit Courts entertain 
appeals from the District Courts in criminal 
cases, and in civil cases where the matter 
in dispute exceeds the sum of fifty dollars. 
III. The United States is further divided 
into districts, for the holding of U. S. Dis- 
trict Courts therein. A district usually in- 
cludes a single State ; but the larger States 
are divided into two or sometimes three 
districts. For each district, there is a Dis- 
trict Judge, who holds four regular sessions 
of the district court annually. The sala- 
ries of the District Judges are different in 
different parts of the country. The Dis- 
trict Courts have original, and exclusive 
jurisdiction of admiralty and maritime cases, 



396 JUDICIAL LIFE. 

of cases of seizures on land and water un- 
der the laws of the United States, and of 
suits brought for penalties and forfeitures 
incurred under said laws. They have also 
jurisdiction, exclusive of the State Courts, 
of suits against consuls, vice consuls, &c. 
They have also concurrent jurisdiction with 
the Circuit Courts in cases of crimes and 
offences, not capital, committed under the 
laws of the United States. Also concur- 
rent jurisdiction with such courts and the 
State Courts of suits at common law in 
which the United States, or any officer 
thereof may sue, under the authority of 
any law of the United States. Also a simi- 
lar jurisdiction of all suits by aliens, on ac- 
count of torts in violation of the laws of na- 
tions or a treaty of the United States. 

IV. The Court of Claims sits in the Cap- 
itol at Washington, and commences its regu- 
lar annual session on the same day as the 
Supreme Court, viz : the first Monday in 
December. It consists of a chief justice 
and four justices, with salary of four thou- 



JUDICIAL LIFE. 397 

sand dollars each. It has jurisdiction of 
" all claims founded upon any law of Con- 
gress, or upon any regulation of an execu- 
tive department, or upon any contract, ex- 
press or implied, with the Government of 
the United States, which may be suggested 
to it by a petition filed therein, and also all 
claims which may be referred to said court 
by either House of Congress; " — also juris- 
diction of all counter claims and demands 
on the part of the United States, against 
any persons making claim against the Gov- 
ernment in said court; also jurisdiction of 
claims to property captured or abandoned 
during the rebellion ; also jurisdiction of 
the claims of disbursing officers of the 
United States for relief from responsibility 
on account of losses of public property by 
capture or otherwise while in the line of 
duty ; and of some other claims of less gen- 
eral importance. The court is precluded 
from passing upon claims for supplies taken, 
injuries done, &c, by United States troops 
during the rebellion, and from rendering 



398 JUDICIAL LIFE. 

judgment in favor of any claimant, who has 
not been loyal to the United States. Ap- 
peals may be taken by the United States 
to the Supreme Court in all cases where 
the judgment is adverse to the United 
States ; and by the claimant where the 
amount in controversy exceeds three thou- 
sand dollars. This Court is the only court 
of the U. S., in which the United States 
can be directly sued as a defendant. 

V. The Supreme Court of the District of 
Columbia consists of a chief justice a®d 
three other justices, and holds its sessions at 
the City Hall in Washington. The salary of 
the chief justice is four thousand five hun- 
dred dollars, and of each of the other jus- 
tices four thousand dollars. This court 
combines the general powers and jurisdic- 
tion of a circuit court and a district court. 
Any single one of its judges is authorized 
to hold a district court. Its jurisdiction 
extends only to civil proceedings instituted, 
and crimes committed in the District of 
Columbia; and to cases of seizures on land 
and water made, and penalties and forfei- 



JUDICIAL LIFE. 

tures incurred, under the laws of the United 
States within the same limits only. It en- 
tertains appeals from the local justices of 
the peace and police court; and its final 
judgments, orders and decrees are subject 
to be appealed from to the Supreme Court 
of the United States. 

VI. Territorial Courts. When a terri- 
torial government is organized by Congress 
for any Territory, a judiciary is provided, 
consisting generally of a Supreme Court of 
three or more judges, district courts to be 
held by the judges of the Supreme Court sep- 
arately, probate courts, and justices' courts. 
The district courts are invested with the 
jurisdiction of the circuit and district courts 
of the United States; and an appeal is 
given from the district courts to the Su- 
preme Court. An appeal is also provided 
from the Supreme Court to the Supreme 
Court of the United States, in the same 
manner as from a circuit court. When a 
Territory is admitted into the Union as a 
State, these courts cease to exist, being 
supplanted by the State Courts. 



ADDITIONAL NOTES 



After the foregoing chapters on Reg- 
ious and Educational Life had been printed, 
we obtained some later official information 
on those subjects, which we append in this 
place. In 1870, three States of the Union 
passed laws compelling the education of all 
children with sound minds and bodies. 
The total number of Colleges in the coun- 
try is 368, of which 261 are supported by 
the different religious denominations. In 
these institutions there are 2,962 instruc- 
tors and 49,827 pupils ; in 99 of them 
males and females are instructed, while the 
balance are confined to males ; and besides 
these there are 136 institutions for the 
superior instruction of females alone, in 
which there are 1,163 teachers and 12,841 



402 ADDITIONAL NOTES. 

pupils. Of Medical Schools, there are 57; 
Theological Schools, 117 ; Law Schools, 
40 ; Normal Schools, 51, and Business 
Schools, 84. Connected with these various 
institutions, there are 180 Libraries with 
2,355,237 volumes. The benefactions to 
educational objects by private citizens were 
quite unparalleled in 1870, amounting in 
the aggregate to $8,435,990. With regard 
to the effect of education upon crime, we 
find that there was one homicide to every 
56,000 people, one to every 4000 thousand 
in the Pacific States, and one to every 10,- 
000 in the Southern States. At least 80 
per cent, of the crime of New England is 
committed by those who have no education ; 
in all parts of the country, 90 per cent, of 
the criminals were illiterate ; 75 per cent, 
were foreigners ; and from 80 to 90 per 
cent, connected their career of crime with 
intemperance. From these figures the con- 
clusion is inevitable, that ignorance breeds 
crime and education is the remedy for the 
crime that prevails. 



ADDITIONAL NOTES. 403 

In further illustration of the preceding 
article on agriculture, we append the follow- 
ing statement. The total value of farm 
products in the United States and Terri- 
tories, during the year ending June 31, 
1870, according to the Census, was 
$2,445,000,000. The largest product was 
in the State of New York and the second 
largest in Illinois. 

Now that this little book is finished, the 
mind of the Compiler naturally turns to 
take a single comprehensive view of the 
great country which has been briefly de- 
scribed. It is indeed one of the wonders 
of the century and of the world. The ex- 
tent of its domain and its unbounded re- 
sources, — the peaceful blending of its many 
nationalities, — the well-nigh unlimited dif- 
fusion of intelligence and knowledge, and 
the free, cosmopolitan character of its peo- 
ple, combine to give it a conspicuous posi- 
tion among the nations. At the very 
moment when these closing lines are being 
written, a Diplomatic Embassy from the 



404 ADDITIONAL NOTES. 

Tenno of^ Japan, is on the point of visiting 
the City of Washington, and the fact can- 
not but have made an impression on their 
minds, that, after landing on the soil of 
America, they have been compelled to 
travel more than three thousand miles be- 
fore reaching the metropolis. But when the 
Ambassadors, and the other high officials 
who accompany them, are informed as to 
the warm welcome which is in store for 
them from the Government of the United 
States, and many of the leading men and 
corporations throughout the Union, and 
when they shall have experienced the un- 
bounded hospitality of the American peo- 
ple generally, they will undoubtedly be 
deeply impressed, and effectually convinced, 
that America and Japan are strongly bound 
together by the cords of sincere regard 
and unselfish affection. 



ERRATA, &c. 



Pago 15, lino 11. — For ruler read governor. 
" 16, lines 1 and 2. — These expenses a»*e incurred in part by the 
Government and the People. 
Page 28, line 3. — For directly read indirectly. 

" 51. line 7. — Add after foreigner — as well as a native. 
" 62, line 10. — For equal to read greater than. 

" 64, line 5. — After offspring add— except that tho wife has a life 
interest of one-third called the widow's dower. 
Page 73, line 14. — After farms add— There is an extensive emigration 
from China to this country now going on, aud what 
effect it will have on the agricultural and industrial 
interests is a problem which can only be settled by 
the future. 
Page 95, 1'ne 1. — For all in read in all. 
" 97, lino 19.— For and Furniture read Woollen-goods — Tea, Coffee, 
and Sugars. 
Page 106, line 14.— Since this was printed it has been stated that W. B. 
Astor, A. T. Stewart, and Cornelius Tanderbilt, are 
each worth about sixty millions of dollars. 
Page 118, line 8.— The last figure 1 should be 2. 
" 120, line 20. — For directly read indirectly. 

'•' 120.— Strike out last two lines after and, and add $356,000,000 being 
a legal tender. 
Page 121. — It should bo stated in this paragraph that there are Branch 
Mints in operation in San Francisco, Denver, Char- 
lotte, Carson City, and an Assay Office in New 
York; and also that nickel is used in some of the 
smaller coins. 



627 



